Just Friends, Right?
by Vanity-Sky
Summary: Single and ready to mingle, Ochako's life gets turned upside down when she unexpectedly reunites with one grumpy blond high school classmate. On top of that, she's still trying to wrap her head around on how she convinced him to be friends with benefits. Kacchako with a dash of Kirimina/Tododeku. Now M as of Ch.19!
1. The Wedding Pt I

AN: This idea came to me like a fever dream: fast and out of nowhere. Lmao, nah, it's just that my brain likes to throw the feels and random ideas to me when I already have another multi-chap idea stewing in my head. I honestly don't know how long this story will be but hey, that's half the fun there!

Note: this story, for the most part will be T+ with implied sexual situations/themes.

Summary: Single and ready to mingle, Ochako's life gets turned upside down when she unexpectedly reunites with one grumpy blond high school classmate. On top of that, she's still trying to wrap her head around on how she convinced him to be friends with benefits. Kacchako/Kirimina/Slight Tododeku.

Happy reading~ :D

Just Friends… Right?

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The Wedding Pt. I

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 _You are cordially invited to the holy matrimony of Denki Kaminari and Kyouka Jirou._

 _April: XX of Year: XXXX._

 _Time: Noon._

 _Location: Kiyosumi Teien; Fukagawa, Tokyo._

 _Please detach and respond: Plus one guest's name: _, Arriving solo __

Ochako Uraraka is a successful, optimistic, positive and humble twenty-four-year-old. She loves her job working as a secretary for the Japanese aerospace exploration agency; always aiming to reach for the stars as her quirk allows her to. Since she graduated from the prestigious hero academy, U.A., she could've gone on to join a search and rescue hero agency but something pulled at her heart to do _more_.

Maybe she had Space Hero Thirteen-sensei to thank for inspiring her to apply for the aerospace agency by fascinating her with his grand stories about astronauts and the mysteries of outer space. It's not that she just gave up on becoming a hero, it's just that she didn't want to devote _all_ her life to it.

After graduating, she had stayed on working full time with pro hero Ryukyu for two full years after interning with her on and off for nearly all three years at U.A. It helped her to grow stronger both mentally and physically but also made her realize that she's still young with so much more to offer the world. She didn't want to _just_ bust her ass off so hard just have a _chance_ at gaining a level on the monthly public hero rankings when she could be out there – gaining other experiences. Maybe when she's older, she could come back more seasoned by her world experiences and settle back into aiming to become a pro.

Her zero-gravity quirk had always swayed her towards outer space like some sort of calling to see what she could grasp with her own two hands. While she wasn't something as grand as an astronaut or aerospace engineer – working as a secretary was a start. She had to pay her bills somehow and the schooling it'd take to achieve her bigger dreams.

Most of her fellow classmates had chosen this path in life as well. Working as heroes for some years but ultimately either going to university or applying for other types of jobs. The only two she knew that hadn't lost their strive to become the best pro heroes their world had to offer were her best friend Izuku Midoriya and while they weren't super close, she still considered him a dear friend too, Izuku's boyfriend Shouto Todoroki.

She's happy in life, single and ready to mingle, she's ready to take on the world of dating now. Ochako's got a steady rhythm and a balance she loves that she wouldn't trade for anything.

 _Arriving solo _X__

She responds to the wedding invitation, feeling giddy to maybe get to flirt a bit. If anything, she's just excited to get to see her fellow classmates that she doesn't get to hang out with very often due to conflicting schedules and those she hadn't seen at all since they graduated. Part of her can't help but frown that this is the second wedding she's been invited to from her female squad.

Her friend and former class vice president all three years of high school, Momo Yaoyorozu had gotten married to Yosetsu Awase just last December. It was a gorgeous winter wonderland themed wedding that pulled at her heart for still being pathetically single and also because how expensive the wedding must've been.

She's always been a penny pincher, settling even now for a dingy, creaky, leaky two-bedroom apartment in a shady part of Tokyo. Everything was for her future she'd tell herself, once she's made it in the aerospace agency as something more than a coffee runner – she'd finally move and get something ritzier (but still within a reasonable budget of course.)

Licking the disgusting sticky plastic film of the return envelope the wedding invite had provided, she put her respond in, also including what she'd prefer for the dinner portion and resealed it. She'd just drop it off at the post office on her way to the local gym for her daily yoga workout.

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Big toes touching, knees bent and spread apart as wide as her pink mat, belly resting on her thighs, forehead on the ground with her arms extended, fingers pointing forward with hands pressed flat on the ground – Ochako takes a deep breath, relaxing her jaw and closed eyes as she holds the position for a few minutes. Humming and feeling the vibration buzz her lips, she's slowly slipping into another realm of existence. Practicing yoga now for four years, she finds these poses therapeutic rather than making her strain and feel like she's dying to hold all her limbs still.

It's just what she needs after running up and down her job just answering phones, clacking away on the computer keyboard, getting lunches and drinks for the higher ups and redirecting away unwanted attention from men who think it's okay to check her toned black tights wearing legs and pencil skirts. She stops them when they reach her petite waist and no way up to her blouse.

She knows she has a fine ass and body. It's all thanks to yoga.

"Daaamn girl, put a guy in a headlock between those thighs and he'd be in heaven!" she hears someone calling, already knowing who it is.

She doesn't let go of her position for another second, relaxing her whole body to ease. "He'd have to buy me dinner first!" she lets a giggle escape her glossy lips, raising her head up and sitting on her knees.

"Lucky for you, I'm single too" the masculine voice laughs, offering her his hand to get up.

Ochako rolls her eyes, "you _wish_ you were single, you're like in a weird open relationship and it's driving me insane, Ei" she says, taking his own sweaty hand as he effortlessly lifts her up like nothing.

Eijirou Kirishima, former classmate and current best friend, is the ideal gay best friend any woman could ask for. Except he's bisexual, a feminist, lives by a manly morale, a top chef at a five-star bistro despite living off of battery acid tasting energy drinks and is in an open relationship with her other best friend Mina Ashido.

"I'm sorry?" he's confused with a lopsided grin, knowing exactly why she's going insane over her two best friends love life, "Mina's not ready to settle and I've got a date with my weight lifting instructor at eight. He's taking me for surf and turf"

Ochako groans, "you better not wake me up with a three-a.m. text telling me you're getting laid" she warns as she bends down to roll up her pink yoga mat, "I have work at seven and would _love_ to not run off to the restroom to have a mental breakdown during my break" she's stuffing her mat, water bottle, and mini wireless pink cubed speaker into her bag. "Oh, by the way, the restrooms at work now have glow-in-the-dark stars plastered all over the walls and ceiling. It's great when the sensors forget I'm crying in there and I get to see them in the dark" she's happy to see her friend getting dates left and right but she's also bitter with her own rotten luck and can't help but to ooze in her bitterness.

Eijirou kindly offers to hold her workout bag with a silent gesture for her to hand her things over to him. He takes a sip of his protein shake before he replies, "I've told you that I'm done trying to hook you up with guys. You always have a problem with my choices and text me an s.o.s to save you from your dates!" he reminds her as they begin walking out of the studio and into the main gym, "why couldn't you just be a lesbian, save me the trouble of getting you laid…"

"Tried it, wasn't for me" she shrugs.

Eijirou rolls his eyes, "okay drunk making out with Tsuyu _one_ time doesn't count"

Tsuyu Asui is another of her best friends, the ever blunt but sweet frog-quirked girl that she hasn't seen in months ever since she moved to further her studies as a rainforest biologist.

"She's with Fumikage now so even if I wanted to revisit that experience, I can't" she casually tells him as they walk towards the treadmills, still unsure herself on how those two even started to date.

"Whoa, Tsu and Tokoyami are dating?! How the hell did she convince him to move with her across the world?" he's shocked by the news, having been out of the loop with certain classmates. He sets their things aside and gets on his own treadmill next to her.

"Your guess is as good as mine but they fit, right? I'm happy if she's happy" she somberly smiles, realizing that a lot of their former classmates had began dating each other in their adult years.

Momo had been the only exception. While they were the A class all three years, they had a B class that was just as superior as them at the school. Yosetsu was one of those students in class B.

Eijirou nods in agreement but mentally felt a bit bad for not having known this new set of information. He'd like to think that he was one of the few who was in the loop, knowing anything and everything about his former classmates. Truth be told, he only knew whispers here and there. Really, whatever would float his way from either Ochako or Mina. His only contribution to the rumor mill was scarce information on one explosive blond – his best friend that no one other than he knew about his whereabouts.

"So did your invite to Denki and Kyouka's wedding come in?" Ochako asks, adjusting the settings on her treadmill to give her a bit of an incline to make her run challenging.

"Yeah, I already sent it back" he places his protein shake on the cup holder and messes with his own settings, "my first plus one cancelled on me but I figured I'd take Mina as my back up since her own date chickened out on going to a wedding with her" he's vague about his first choice, thinking that it'd be best to leave _his_ name out. There just wasn't any point of bringing _him_ up if _he's_ already stated time and time again that _he_ doesn't give a shit about their former classmates.

"Wooow, that's lame" she grabs onto the handles and begins her paced walk into a steady jog.

"Some guys have no backbones. It's not like she was trying to put the idea of marriage into the dumbass's head" he grunts, straight away starting off with a full incline jog, "so I told _my_ girl that I'd gladly take her and wear a pink cheetah print tux to please her"

"Aww a pink cheetah print tux" she awes, "but remember, Ei, the whole point is not to _outshine_ the main couple" she feels her breath straining, taking a deep greedy gulp of air to keep up with the faster pace.

"You know I hate seeing Mina cry after a bust. Besides her mascara is a _bitch_ to get off my nice white pillows whenever she stays the night so I'd rather avoid her being sad" he laughs in a half-grunt from the high level he set his run on.

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A month later, the wedding date arrives.

Ochako smooths over her simple strapless peach lace dress that reaches her mid-thigh and approves what she sees back in the mirror. Stuffing her matching clutch with her tinted lip gloss, a couple of yen, and barely her cell phone, she snaps it shut and hopes nothing springs free. Before she entirely leaves her apartment, she makes sure that her white pumps adorned with cute medium sized bows on the sides are actually walkable in, slowly taking baby steps around her small place to get a feel for them. She had bought them so long ago when there was an online sale and decided to splurge a little but has never gotten to break them in.

"It's now or never" she tells herself, locking up and taking the rail all the way down. Five flights of stairs sure is fun when she's walking like a newborn calf trying not to break an ankle before reaching the taxi she ordered as soon as she walked out of her apartment.

She had been serious when she said she didn't want to outshine the bride and groom but maybe no one else had received the memo. Yuga Aoyama was shining as bright as a damn disco ball in a holographic tux, Eijirou was wearing a bright pink cheetah printed tux as he said he would be, Mina wearing a matching dark magenta pink flapper style dress with a purple feather boa draped around her shoulders, Hanta Sero in tropical bohemian shirt and jeans combo and despite being invisible save for what she's wearing, Toru Hagakure showed up in a baby blue and white sweet lolita dress – the list could go on and on with what everyone was wearing.

Maybe she'd be lucky and blend into the background of the beautiful garden location they're in.

Of course, Eijirou and Mina wouldn't allow her to just wallow in self-pity in the comfort of her assigned seat of the same table they were sitting at. She had been looking forward to flirting and mingling with whoever looked single and desperate just as much as her. But ninety-nine percent of the guests had literally been her former classmates and Denki and Kyouka's families who were all either too young or too old for her to go on the prowl. The only people she didn't know there were Kyouka's college bandmates from her Deep Dope cover band. They weren't her type.

"Guys, just leave me here with the champagne bottle and _maybe_ if I'm tipsy enough, I'll let you two sandwich me into a dance" she tells them both when they're holding her by a hand each, trying to tug her out of her seat.

The wedding had been beautiful.

Telling the bride she looked beautiful, was beautiful.

The group photos around the ponds and bridges was beautiful.

Getting to see Tsuyu after so long was beautiful.

What was not beautiful was getting dragged out of her seat to go participate in wedding games.

"Oh, babe take over 'Chako duties. I'll be right back!" Eijirou let go of her limp arm to storm off after someone who had caught his eye.

Mina didn't need to verbally reply as she just winked at Ochako and used her full strength gained from years of being a dance instructor to make the stubborn young woman follow her to where they were about to throw the bride's flower bouquet.

"Hey man! I thought you weren't coming!" Ochako briefly hears Eijirou's loud voice before it fades into the squeals of her excited friends waiting for the traditional game to begin.

"Momo, you can't play! You're already married, Mrs. Awase~!" Toru playfully whines with a giggle.

Momo laughs while standing next to Kyouka, "don't worry, I'm not playing but I'm here as witness to who gets the bouquet during the toss! Remember, no quirks!"

A group of boo's and light complaints could be heard as Kyouka turned her back. "Ready, ladies?"

Mina nudged Ochako with her elbow, gesturing for her to get ready but her heart really wasn't into the game. She didn't really believe in the magic of catching the tossed bouquet in hopes of being the next bride anyways.

All the guys she's tried dating have all been major fails and those lucky enough to have a one-night fling with her were just that. Flings and not very good ones at that. She longs for a mind-numbing experience that doesn't end with her finishing off what others failed to give her. Something to drive her over the edge and burn her into a tiny million stars in the sky. She wants something so impossibly hot, passionate, and something so sinfully delicious that it'll make her insatiable. She wants to be ruined for the next person, longing to be the only person for someone special.

Someone who deserves her, respects her, worships her, but more importantly – just loves her.

Lost in her thoughts she fails to notice when her arms subconsciously rises and ends up capturing the small bouquet of white and yellow roses by the tips of her padded fingers. Her quirk activates on reflex causing her to lose the handle and the bouquet ends up in Tsuyu's hands instead.

"Ahh! You had it and lost it!" Mina's eyes widened as she shakes Ochako's bare shoulders.

"It's fine, it wasn't meant to be" she softly speaks up, trying to hide her disappointment. Again, nothing new here for her. It's just her rotten luck and the universe telling her that she just isn't cut out for romance.

She'll have to settle for shitty dates and flings and despite being against it – maybe now she's convinced enough that she'll need to invest in a little _friend_ to help. Maybe if she's tipsy enough she'll actually brave a sex shop on her next day off from work.

All around her, everyone is congratulating Tsuyu, gushing and teasing her for being the next in line to get married. The blunt girl with her signature index finger on her cheek as she tilts her head just blushes and tells everyone that it was only a matter of time before she would with Fumikage. This causes them all except for Ochako to hysterically scream.

"I need a drink…" she tells herself more than Mina who's put all her attention on Tsuyu's gossip by now.

Walking away, she heads towards the bar and stumbles on uneven wooden floorboards.

"Ugh, what is wrong with me?" she whispers to herself, questioning why she's so bitter when she should be acting like her usual bubbly self who would normally try to make an effort and engage with all the party guests. She swears she's not usually this much of a negative downer.

"Oi, dumbass, the fuck are you doing wearing shoes you can't even walk in?" she hears a gruff voice ask before she could even open her mouth to order a drink at the bar.

"They're cute" she says with a slight annoyance in her tone as she turns her head so fast she almost gets whiplash, trying to pinpoint the direction of where that familiar voice she hasn't heard in years is coming from.

"B-B-Bakugou?" her breath hitches at the sight of him.

He's making his way towards her or more like the bar. His voice projecting loud and clear that she can hear him from any direction he could've been coming from. Tall, blond, board and muscular, stupidly, illegally hot, with that infamous permanent scowl marring his features – he hasn't changed at all since she's last seen him all those years ago when they graduated.

She knows that Eijirou has always kept in touch with him but she's never bothered to ask him herself about the every elusive Katsuki Bakugou. She starts to wonder in that moment why she never has all while trying not to drool at the sight of him as if he's the last prime rib in the desert.

Ochako would've one-hundred percent offer to buy him a drink, put on a dazzling smile, try and foolishly flirt with him in her buzzed stupor, drop her jaw (and under garments) for the man clad in an all-black outfit minus a suit jacket, stalking towards the bar and her general direction if only he was alone.

But he wasn't – a tall blonde was glued to his side wearing a short floral green halter top dress with a thousand-watt energetic smile plastered on her face as she waved cheerfully at her.

Worst of all?

She knows who it is.

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Done! To be continued.

Anyone wanna take a guess as to who the blonde is? ;D

Uhh, I'm sleep deprived and don't know what else to say. This is just the set up of Ochako and Katsuki's reunion. Oh boy, buckle up and get ready for what's a-coming.

Sorry, I stuck with an American/Western style of wedding tradition because I was lazy to research anything more traditionally Japanese.

And now I must tumble away to my current on-going Kacchako fic – _A Tsundere's Heart_.

Next time: Text Buddies.

I don't own Ochako Uraraka or Katsuki Bakugou and all other characters used in this fic – Boku No Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi.

I just own the idea/plot/story/whatever you want to call it~ lol :P

Please remember to R&R! If anyone is afraid to leave reviews due to language difference - please don't be! I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! :) And hey, that's why Google translate was invented after all! LOL.


	2. Text Buddies

AN: I'm greatly amused by the majority thinking the mysterious blond is Himiko Toga. Thanks for answering my trolling question~ I'm here to say that lol nope, the tall blonde isn't her but one review got it right…ish. Dun dun dun. Thanks for reviewing, y'all!

Notice: The text format is as follows: _**To: Red Hot**_ is Ochako's name for Eijirou / _**From: Zero-G Bae**_ is Eijirou's name for Ochako on his phone.

Happy reading~ :D

Text Buddies

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Katsuki Bakugou is a successful, hard-working, loud, bad mouthed, quick tempered, adrenaline junkie twenty-five-year-old. He loves his job working as a firefighter, currently studying his ass off to get his paramedic license on the side. Since he graduated from the prestigious hero academia, U.A., he could've gone and worked for any hero agency that would tolerate and was willing to put up with his brash logistics but something pulled at his heart to do _more_.

He's always wanted to be a hero in every shape and form of the definition.

His idol and greatest inspiration, All Might has always heavily influenced his life even if he himself was rough around the edges. He couldn't conform to the ideal of smiling no matter the obstacle but he wasn't a bad guy. Even if people feared him, he'd still willingly save them.

After graduating he went back to working for a full year with Best Jeanist, his mentor during his internship as a first year in high school. Despite not agreeing with his pro's required work attire, he did respect the man, his quirk, and his fighting skills.

And after his year was up, he decided to switch things up and worked under a slightly newer hero named Miruko. She had a fiery personality that complimented his own and if it weren't for him yearning to do more with his life, he sure as hell would've stayed working under her.

Of course, both Best Jeanist and Miruko had offered him a full-time position if he ever chose to return to the life of aiming to become a pro hero once he's done doing his soul searching/gaining world experiences. He was grateful for those two opportunities.

He, like most of his former classmates, decided to take on normal jobs. His quirk had gifted him with a high tolerance to heat and with the hours upon hours that he personally put into learning about fire safety, potential hazards, and what protocols to use – he knew he wanted to do something exciting and worthwhile but still having that edge of a thrill.

 _You are cordially invited to the holy matrimony of Denki Kaminari and Kyouka Jirou._

 _April: XX of Year: XXXX._

 _Time: Noon._

 _Location: Kiyosumi Teien; Fukagawa, Tokyo._

 _Please detach and respond: Plus one guest's name: _, Arriving solo __

Katsuki looks down at the second wedding invite he's received. The first was for Momo back in December which he never responded to because he simply didn't give a shit. Now the wedding somewhat meant something to him because it was one of his idiot best friend getting married.

Throughout his three years at U.A. he had formed a small posse of close-knit friends that everyone liked nicknaming the 'Bakusquad,' he didn't so much care for the name but the idiots had a tendency of following him like a mother hen with her little chicks. Sometimes it'd get on his damn nerves but most of the time, (he'd never admit it out loud) he did enjoy being praised and being considered that 'cool' guy of his class. (Again, he'd never admit it) but if it weren't for his small group of friends, his high school years would've been a lot lonelier.

He knows he should do the right thing and go support his friend on his special day because he's the one who's been a jerk for not keeping in touch as often as he should've with his squad. Katsuki has always been a private type of person but also a busy-body, always having excuses for improving himself and not having enough time in the day to even send a simple text to his group chat. He was the only one who would read each message but rarely reply back even though his friends knew he was there.

He's about to disintegrate the piece of cardstock paper in his palms when a slender long arm leans over to quickly snatch it.

"Oh no, we're not ditching another wedding Bakubro! This time we're taking small containers to bring back food 'cuz you totes need to save money on like groceries, fam!" a feminine voice tells him while bending half her body over the sleek black couch to reach for a pen on his rectangular glass coffee table.

She replies to the invite on his behalf. _Plus one guest's name:_ _Camie Utsushimi_ _._

"Oh god…" he pinches the bridge of his nose, "you're ghetto as fuck and who the hell says I'm even taking you!"

Camie jumps over the couch to plop down next to him. She's wearing a royal blue tank top with matching white and blue striped panties. "We're homies for life, duh" she flips her hair with a smile, "besides I've only ever like, briefly met your squad before"

"I already told Eijirou I wasn't going and now I'll look like a dumbass for changing my mind last minute" he groans, more exhausted by his seventy-two-hour shift at the fire station than his high and mighty pride getting diminished.

Camie had been a student at U.A.'s rival school Shiketsu High to the west. He had befriended her when they both failed their provisional hero license exams the first time. Being a year older senpai to him, he didn't get to see her that often until he finally graduated and both realized they shared the same passion for rescuing people in high stakes situations.

She became an emergency 119 call dispatcher for a call center pertaining to his station. Spending so much time together, they became close friends with her always crashing at his place because he lived closer to their work area.

Despite all the time they spend together and others speculating that there was something more there – they themselves didn't see each other as anything romantic. When he was still working for Best Jeanist, they had kissed once and were grossed out, knowing all along that they just weren't compatible.

They were better friends than lovers.

Camie rolls her eyes at his complaining, "well you're my bitch so we're going" she settles.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

A month later, he's being dragged to the wedding.

"Wow you clean up nicely!" Camie compliments as he adjusts his black watch on his left wrist.

"Of course I fucking do. I'm not a slob like you" he grumbles, checking his outfit over. Wearing a black slim form fitting long-sleeved shirt, black dress pants and belt, and black and white shoes.

"Uuh, dude, ya forgot the tie and jacket" she teases knowing him all too well.

"Hell no!" he grits his teeth, in a sour mood and knowing she's just messing with him to make his mood even worse, "let's just go!"

They arrive to the gorgeous serene garden location and immediately get bombarded by the red-head.

"Hey man! I thought you weren't coming!" Eijirou is loud as always, jogging up to him for a hug, wearing an obnoxious fluorescent pink cheetah printed tux with sparkly red rhinestone shoes.

Katsuki isn't even going to bother wasting his breath to complain about how utterly atrociously gaudy his best friend's outfit is.

"Camie forced me to come" he says in a monotone voice, returning the hug.

"Ayyyyeeee" Eijirou grins and fist bumps the tall blonde.

"What are homies for~" she winks, giving him a fist bump with a 'fwoosh' sound effect.

"I need a drink" Katsuki groans, again being exhausted from work and now visibly having dark bags under his eyes. The last fire he had to deal with in a high-rise office building was a pain in the ass to calm down but the fact that he had saved five people from burning was what made it all worth it. He didn't even need their endless gratitude as he probably would have demanded when he was younger – it was his job and duty to save others.

"Oh! Me too! Me too!" she excitedly says, wrapping her arm around his and leans into his side as he leads them towards the bar area.

Halfway there and his eyes lock onto a sweet petite young woman wearing a short strapless peach colored lace dress and white pumps that look like they can break her ankles if she isn't careful. She's someone he hasn't seen in ages.

"Oi, dumbass, the fuck are you doing wearing shoes you can't even walk in?" he gruffly finds himself saying without thinking as the memories of her gaining his respect in high school and their short shared memories come rushing back to his mind like a dam's floodgate bursting.

"They're cute" his sharp ears can hear her say from their distance, annoyance laced in her tone. She's moving her head left and right trying to pinpoint his location and once she finally sees him, he watches as her eyes briefly widened, "B-B-Bakugou?" she slightly gasps.

He makes his way towards the bar area as Camie in her usual social self gives the girl a thousand-watt smile with a wave.

"Ochako" his mouth feels parched, not having said her given name in years. He could've easily called her by an old nickname but didn't want to trade her unreadable expression for an annoyed scowl.

"Uhh… hi Bakugou… Utsushimi-san" Ochako greets with difficulty at swallowing her own words.

An awkward silence sweeps over them until Camie grips Katsuki's arm and squeals, "yo, this song is lit!" she scurries off to go dance before it ends, leaving the two former U.A. classmates all alone.

"How have you been?" she asks him with a forced smile.

He ignores the forced smile, sitting next to her on a stool, "busy with work, you?" he asks while gesturing for the bartender to come get their order.

"Same. Are you working for a hero agency?"

"Get me a double shot of fireball" he orders and then answers her, "not anymore, I did that for two years with Best Jeanist and Miruko but then went back to school and became a firefighter"

"Oh! How exciting! Yeah, I worked for Ryukyu for two years but now I'm working as a secretary for the aerospace agency" she tells him and quickly orders, "a tequila sunrise, please"

The bartender nods and goes to get their drinks.

Katsuki can't help but chuckle a bit, "you drink?"

Ochako shrugs, "I'm more of a wine person but I could use a pick-me-up"

"Heh, still strong as fuck I see, Pink Cheeks" he compliments.

She bites her bottom lip at the old nickname, "I'll gladly drink you under the table!" she declares while trying to calm her blush. It didn't help that it was a humid spring day.

"I'd like to see you try!" he accepts her challenge, "oi, gimme your phone" he says once he downs his drink.

She takes a sip of her own trying not to choke when he asked for her phone and fumbled to get it out of her small clutch. "Here" she unlocks and slides it over to him on the counter, afraid of dropping it and embarrassing herself if she just handed it over.

"This is my number, call me when you're free and we'll do a bar crawl" he tells her as he orders another round of drinks for himself, "but I'm not dragging your sorry ass out of any place we go to if you turn out to be a light-weight"

Ochako rolls her eyes, "we're not kids anymore, Bakugou, I'll prove you wrong"

He likes her answer, "you better"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

 _ **To: Red Hot**_

 _ **Omg! I can't believe Bakugou asked me out! Okay it's not a date-date. We just agreed to go out and drink.**_

 _ **From: Zero-G Bae**_

 _ **Dude, that's huge. Bakugou only talks to the 'Bakusquad' and it's rare when he even does that. Him asking you out? YO.**_

 _ **To: Red Hot**_

 _ **Ei, what do I do? I haven't even texted him since he gave me his number over two weeks ago!**_

 _ **From: Zero-G Bae**_

 _ **Knowing him, he's either working overtime or hasn't even left work from his regular hours. So just text him whenever?**_

 _ **To: Red Hot**_

 _ **That doesn't help. *Ugh* I haven't seen him since we've graduated and I'm having mixed feelings…**_

 _ **From: Zero-G Bae**_

 _ **Why, because you've now seen how hotter he's gotten? *wink***_

 _ **To: Red Hot**_

 _ **Yes and no! I just… idk, okay? I really admired him just as much as my Bun-Bun Deku…**_

She knows Eijirou can see her typing bubble as she quickly sends another text before he can reply back.

 _ **To: Red Hot**_

 _ **Wait! Did you and Bakugou ever… ?**_

 _ **From: Zero-G Bae**_

 _ **LMAO. I wish. Dude, Bakugou is the straightest guy I know. He and I are guys, y'know… We do talk about the opposite sex and the female anatomy…**_

 _ **To: Red Hot**_

 _ **Okay, TMI, Ei. Didn't need to know that… I'm going to bed now. Please don't text me in the morning about your weird sex fetish dreams… Love ya. *heart***_

 _ **From Zero-G Bae:**_

 _ **Okay, a lil' bdsm isn't weird and Mina's been staying over lately so don't blame me. Get some rest, love ya too. *heart***_

Ochako's dark room gets filled with blue light from her phone as she smiles at the text messages. She doesn't know how she feels about having Bakugou back in her life but it was nice to see that he's changed? He wasn't the easiest person to get along with but she's now finding him interesting. She was true in her words, admiring and greatly respecting his strength and skills back at U.A. but that's all it was. She didn't flock around fawning and drooling over him like other girls did at their school.

Yes, he's attractive on an unfair level but she's always wondered what it'd be like to be his friend and not just someone who spoke to her on rare occasions.

Maybe it's as they say: distance makes the heart grow fonder.

She wanted to know more about him, still in disbelief that he had invited her out to go drink.

Turning off her phone, she places it on her night table and rolls over to hug her comfy pillow. Trying to zone out the busy city life blaring through her thin walls, she soon falls asleep.

In the morning, Ochako leaves her phone where she's left it as she gets ready for work. Showering, getting dressed, smoothing over her white blouse and navy-blue pencil skirt, black tights and putting on ankle-strapped low heels. She grabs her phone and makes her way towards her kitchen to make a cup of dirt cheap tasting instant coffee.

The kettle goes off, blowing angry puffs of steam that subconsciously amuse her for making her think of the once temperamental grumpy blond that has been introduced back into her life recently.

Pouring herself a mug, she carefully blows the steam away. Holding her old chipped pink mug in one hand and with her other, she unlocks her phone and nearly spills her coffee all over herself at the text from the new name she's just now noticing.

 _ **From: King Explodo-Saves**_

 _ **You free tonight?**_

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Ochako's gonna try her very best to beat Katsuki! Will she win or lose?

And yeah… I personally always liked the idea of Camie and Katsuki being bros. Just really close, good friends. Maybe there'll be more of their friendship shown in future chaps!

Next Time: On The Rocks

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	3. On The Rocks

AN: Uhuhuhu, I'm on a roll and it's hot as hell today. I'll usually type, edit, and upload a chapter on the same day as I write it so I'll try to update as frequently as I can since it's still summer time.

Notice: The text format is as follows: _**From: King Explodo-Saves**_ is the name that Katsuki put for himself on Ochako's phone / _**To: (you'll see what it is later in the chap)**_ will be Katsuki's name for Ochako.

Ps. Slight spoiler for a manga-only character, but the events mentioned are entirely what I would've liked to have seen.

Happy reading~ :D

On The Rocks

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

 _ **From: King Explodo-Saves**_

 _ **You free tonight?**_

Ochako's mind stayed stuck on Bakugou's unexpected text all morning that, like an idiot, she got stuck on the turnstile and forgot to swipe her badge to be allowed entry into her work building. Thankfully, Hitoshi Shinsou, another former student at U.A. and current co-worker/security guard wasn't at his post to see her act like such a klutz.

"Hey~ Hey~ What's on your mind? I know something's on your mind, Ochako" a sweet, ever curious voice asks as she finds herself now with her friend and U.A. senpai Nejire Hadou at her side.

The bluenette walks in an airy fashion, a skip to every step and a click-clack of high heels, with her hands held behind her back. "Hey~ Hey~ this isn't work related right? You're kinda acting like a space cadet and we haven't even started work yet" Nejire in her typical blunt fashion, says with a giggle as she lightly nudges Ochako with an elbow.

Ochako snaps out of her thoughts to shake her head, "yeah it's not work related but it's nothing, I'm just _really_ tired!" she lies, not wanting to answer Nejire because then it'd be a never-ending rain of questions and little to no time to answer them all.

"Oh~ hungover, right?" ever since Ochako had told her that she was feeling a bit sorry for herself and downed an entire bottle of cooking wine (because that's all she had at that time and didn't care.) Nejire naturally assumes that, that's what she likes to do on the weekend because she's so incredibly single.

"No," Ochako shakes her head, a bit amused that she's gained some sort of pathetic perception about her private life, "I have thin walls and a crappy mattress" she explains, being truthful.

"Oh yeah" Nejire sighs, "you do live in a shady area…" she nods and snaps her fingers a second later, "hey~ hey~ didn't you say you live around the red-light district?"

They're headed towards the elevators to the upper levels to check their schedules for the day. Ochako pauses at the question before getting to press the button to close the elevator doors. It's true, she lives near Kabukicho, the red-light district around the Shinjuku area but that wasn't the reason why she was acting like a space cadet.

She doesn't even want to begin thinking about how sometimes that area would highly tempt her to go with its several flashy host clubs, night clubs, and love hotels. She'd love to act spontaneous enough to let loose for one wild night but she isn't a ho and has high standards.

Nodding, Ochako just decides to agree to end their conversation. She'll usually entertain her senpai but today, she's not much in the mood for her endless curiosity. "Yep! That's exactly why!"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Katsuki _needs_ sleep.

He _loves_ sleep.

He enjoys being a bum on the weekends, his only real off days. Sometimes, that's the one thing he misses about living under his parent's roof – getting to go to bed early just to wake up in the late afternoon. But he's an adult now with responsibilities, bills to pay, and one expensive ass apartment in the heart of Tokyo.

Working at a pro hero agency for the short time that he did after he graduated did him good financially. With what he used to earn and saved up and what he earns now – he's made a comfortable living for himself in a fancy, modern apartment complex.

His bachelor's pad would've been just about perfect if it weren't for one tall blonde who owns a spare key and jumbled up his covers off of him. Camie stood in front of him wearing ripped jeans with her thong straps visible, a red crop top with bell sleeves showing off her silver bellybutton ring and entire midsection.

"Yo, dude, who's this new _**Chubby Cheeks Classmate**_ in your contacts?" she asks while holding his phone in her hand.

"Ugh, what time is it?" he asks, checking for himself on the smartwatch he left on his night table. He sees that it's barely nine in the morning when he just barely got home thirty minutes earlier. He just threw his navy-blue work shirt off, unzipped his baggy black pants and plopped straight into his cloud-like bed. "It's too fuckin' early to be dealing with your bullshit. Get the hell out!" he groans, patting around his bed for his covers again with eyes closed.

"Bruh, you've got a chick's number for once and that's what you call her?" she's in disbelief, shaking his phone in her hand, "I'm so like changing that contact name!" she announces when he mumbles he doesn't care as long as she leaves him alone to _finally_ get some much needed sleep. Quickly typing, she assumes that he gave this girl her nickname based on her having a nice ass so she edits the name to _**Ms. Fine Ass**_.

"Anyways, I came to steal toilet paper Bakubro" she throws his phone on his bed when he doesn't respond. Going into his master bedroom's bathroom, she takes three rolls and goes to stand near his bed once again before fully leaving. "Remember to take a roll of condoms for your booty call! Love ya!" she places her knee on his bed, mattress weighing down as she leans in to peck his cheek, knowing he absolutely hates when she does that.

He swats her away with a louder groan to leave. She takes forever to listen but does so, leaving as she laughs. Loudly shutting his door and the main entrance of his apartment, letting him know she was fully gone.

"Fuckin' Camie…" he mutters, grabbing his phone to check what she did to Ochako's contact. Seeing the name, he clicks his tongue in a small 'tch' sound, editing the name again for _**Ura-Fine Ass**_. He was at least going to put part of her former hero name as part of her contact info.

Throwing his phone away, he grabs another pillow to place on his face to block out the light and knocks out.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"I'm meeting Bakugou at seven and I don't know what to wear!" Ochako hides her face behind her hands.

She's sitting on a stool of Eijirou's island counter as he chops chicken breasts and vegetables in the kitchen, listening intently to her whines. He had invited her over to his place when she got off work and didn't feel like going home just yet, sending him an s.o.s text to rescue her instead.

Nejire had been kind enough to offer to hang out but Ochako politely declined, not feeling like accidentally making a fool of herself for whatever sneaky piece of gossip her senpai would get out of her that she'd accidentally blurt out. She needed the comfort of her best friends because she internally felt like a hot mess.

"Whore it up!" Mina suggests with a wink, twirling around Eijirou as she takes items out of the pantry for him. She places small kisses on his cheeks every time she puts the condiments down next to his cutting board.

"Mina! I'm not hooking up with Bakugou!" she uncovers her face and raises her arms up, "it's Bakugou!" she yells to the ceiling as if that would justify anything. Yeah, she's been going through an intense dry spell but the thought of her former blond, muscular, grumpy classmate making her hot and bothered never once crossed her mind before.

Mina shrugs, "and what's the problem, I've heard rumors that he's good in bed"

"Babe, stop teasing our sweet little Ochako like that" Eijirou pipes up, bending down to get a large stir-fry pan from a bottom cabinet. He wanted to switch the topic for reasons he wasn't quite ready to spill. "Just wear what you usually wear whenever you hang out with us. You're not trying to impress him and Bakugou's not really one for gals that try too hard. This is casual, right?"

"Yeah, it is" she says, placing her cheek in her palm, elbow resting on the table, "we were never friends-friends back in high school so I'm just nervous that all my weird, embarrassing qualities will come gushing out with a little alcohol in me…"

"You sure that's _all_ you want inside you?" Mina waggle's an eyebrow at the innuendo.

Ochako nearly tilts over, instantly regaining her balance before falling down. "Friends! Just friends! Bakugou was never mean to me so I don't want to freak him out before we can become _actual_ friends!"

She swears this is going to be one long night.

Luckily Eijirou comes to her rescue like always, "down, girl" he chuckles pointing his spatula at Mina, "now ladies, as much as I'd love to hear all about how Ochako badly needs to get laid – dinner's ready so let's eat"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Oh my god… life is so unfair" Ochako mutters to herself, watching as Bakugou makes his way towards her in the crowded bar. She was drinking up the sight of him as he maneuvered around other patrons to get to her. She seriously didn't want to make a first bad impression and decided to get to the first bar of his choice some twenty-minutes before their meet-up time. He, punctual as ever, arrived exactly on time.

Bakugou's wearing a gold sleeved black sukajan jacket with an orangey gold koi fish design on the back with red, orange, and white flowers surrounding the design, a simple white shirt, black ripped skinny jeans, and emerald green sneakers.

He's ridiculously attractive and for once in her life, she's thankful that she didn't fully dress like a slob like she does whenever she's alone with Mina and Eijirou. She's wearing a cute pink pleated blouson dress with a thin brown leather belt around her waist and brown ankle boots. Resting on her lap, she was carrying a jean jacket in case the temperature would turn chilly as they bar hop throughout the night.

"Wooow, you in skinny jeans?" her mouth says before her brain realizes what she just said. It was already too late to bite her tongue and flee.

"Hmph" he raises a brow, "yeah hard to believe I have a fine ass underneath my baggy pants. I know, but don't stare too hard. Your face'll get stuck that way" he sarcastically replies with a small smirk playing at his lips. He sits down next to her at the bar and calls a bartender for them.

She's glad she hadn't ordered something prior to his arrival otherwise she would've choked on her drink.

It was refreshing to discover a new side to him but still felt so weird when they were never close to begin with. It didn't help that Eijirou was of no help to her when she was heading out of his place and he pinched her cheeks like a doting mother, telling her to just be herself around the blond because that's the best person she can be. She wanted to gag at the motherly advice but was grateful to know that she didn't have to be fake around Bakugou in order to be liked by him.

She's just trying to make a new (old) friend, dammit!

"Long day at work?" she starts off their casual conversation, faintly catching a smoky scent coming off of him mixed with his cologne and natural spicy-gasoline infused one.

"Yeah a bit, there's been too many damn wannabe fire based quirked villains running amuck lately" he says with a deep tired sigh, "gimme a whiskey sour" he orders once the bartender arrives.

"Oh, that must be rough" she admires the fact that he chose to become a fireman but was too shy to tell him that, "a cosmo, please!" she quickly orders.

She hears Bakugou snort at her drink choice.

"What?"

"That's the girliest fucking drink you can order. C'mon, I thought we were going for the heavy hitters"

She rolls her eyes at his comment, "well yeah, I want to ease into things. Next bar, I'll let you order for me"

"Deal" he agrees, toasting with her once their drinks arrive.

They make small talk about their daily lives, both joking on how unexciting their lives were because all they did was basically live at their jobs. She tells him that she hangs out a lot with Eijirou and Mina, mentioning that they also go to the same gym and have grown close over the years after graduating. Her life pretty much revolved around them. She skips out on telling him the finer details of all her failed dates and relationships in the past – not wanting him to feel sorry for her or worse, actually laugh in her face.

He comments on how he only really gets to hang out with Eijirou from time to time but that he's usually always with Camie. He does the same old routine day in and day out but that's the sacrifice he was willing to make when he's still young and damn good at his job. He didn't have much going on but with each new fire case, he's starting to come around and realize that he should be making a greater effort to spend time with the little bit of people he does knows. It's a partial explanation as to why he chose to reach out to her, knowing that they weren't close in school back at U.A. but they weren't strangers either.

They've moved onto their next bar and sit at a booth this time. It was more intimate but nice to be able to hear each other instead of screaming over everyone else to be heard.

"I'm glad that we've gotten to reconnect, Bakugou…" she bites her bottom lip, a nervous bad habit of hers that doesn't go unnoticed by his sharp scarlet eyes, "I've always wanted to thank you for being there for me when Sir Nighteye died… it was the first time I had to deal with someone dying while I was on the job. It made me realize that my internship with Ryukyu during our first year wasn't just about gaining experience but also about facing the harsh reality of what it means to be a pro" she scrunches up her dress, hiding her hands underneath the table.

"Life and death go hand-in-hand" he says in a soft tone, understanding her feelings, "I've seen my fair share, more so in this line of work than as a hero… but yeah," he awkwardly rubs the back of his neck, "you're strong as fuck, gaining my respect since the day you nearly kicked my ass during the sports fest" he leans back while tapping his free hand on the table, he wasn't the greatest at showing his thanks for receiving gratitude, "you needed someone during those difficult times, it's okay to cry and let it out ya know" he settles for somewhat showing her his thought process, knowing that she's never been intimidated by him nor thinking he was a super asshole.

He knows her strengths and that time he offered her a shoulder to cry on, as she tightly hugged him, shaking like a leaf as her strong sobs cascaded down her face – he reminded her that it was okay to cry because that didn't make her weak for showing her emotions. Her sympathy and empathy shouldn't be deemed as a weakness. She had been aiming to work as a search and rescue hero under Ryukyu's guidance but when she confessed that she felt like she could've, _should've_ done more for Sir Nighteye but felt like an utter failure – it was the first time he was seeing the _real_ her. She didn't have to put a bubbly, overly optimistic façade in front of him. And now that they're older, his only regret was not having kept in touch with her.

She shyly thanks him again for the sentimental words, feeling like she just lifted a huge weight off her shoulders. Not realizing just how much she's been dying to just thank him for showing her kindness during her lowest point during their academy days.

"Okay, enough of that" he coughs, trying to shift the mood back around, "wanna do a jägerbomb with me?"

She cringes at the thought, "not really a fan of energy drinks or beer, sorry" she shrinks back into her seat. "But you can order something else for me! I trust your choice!" she bites her lip again, scared that he'll really dare her to go for a heavy hitter. She was enjoying their time together and didn't want to get plastered right away before getting to learn more about him.

He just rolls his eyes as he orders one for himself and takes her feelings into consideration, "and a screwdriver for Round Face"

Ochako grumbles at the old long-forgotten nickname, "you're trying to get me wasted on vodka alone, I see"

A second later, she watches Bakugou burst into laughter, "oh please, I could've just ordered you an A.M.F and call it a night if I wanted to go home early"

She nearly chokes on her water, "t-th-thank you for n-not being a jerk then" she stutters, pounding a small fist to her chest to dislodge the water, not wanting to read more into this little outing, "I would like the next drink to be something a bit sweeter please" she recomposes herself.

He downs his drink, turning the glass with the shot glass inside of it upside down on the table with a 'yeah, yeah.'

They move onto their third bar and settle back into the front counter of the bar. This bar having dimer lights, giving off a more romantic setting. She's feeling a nice buzz at this point but still not quite hammered, having been drinking cups of water in-between every drink he'd order for themselves.

"How are you doing?" she asks as she jumps to get on top of the seat, feet dangling as she adjusts her position. This was one downside of being a short girl.

"Peachy" he gives her a thumbs up, "told ya, no light-weight here" he's feeling his own nice buzz but can still go for more rounds.

"Neither am I" Ochako nods with arms crossed, "if we're at a tie then I guess we'll just have to reschedule a rematch" she gives herself a mental pat on the back for smoothly asking him for another date. At this point, she can't tell if she's semi-flirting with him but with all the alcohol in her system – it's sure giving her a confidence boost.

Bakugou agrees to the date with a nod of his own and calls for the bartender to place his orders for both. "I'll have a sazerac and she'll have an orgasm"

Ochako nearly falls out of the bar stool.

She _knows_ it's a drink's name. In her heart, she _knows_ he's just getting her a sweeter drink like she wanted at the last place. But she can't stop her blood pressure from rising as her heart threatens to leap out of her chest because that's exactly what she wants, craves, desperately desires for herself.

She crosses her legs and tries to act normal once the white drink is placed in front of her.

"Is that what you wanted?" he innocently asks, unaware of the way he's making her feel.

"Yes" she gulps.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Ochako is thirsty af.

And Katsuki would totally be that person to order a whiskey sour with egg white. Haha.

Next Time: Bakugou's Secret Curse

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	4. Bakugou's Secret Curse

AN: Wow! Thank you all so much for the reviews! This idea has been nagging me for some time now so I hope to be able to update it frequently now that I've completed my first Kacchako fic – _A Tsundere's Heart_. WHOO!

Please do let me know if there's ever anything you as readers would like to see and I'll see if I can make it happen!

Notice: dreams will be _italicized_.

Happy reading~ :D

Bakugou's Secret Curse

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Oh gosh… why did I drink on a monday night…" Ochako groans while rubbing her temples.

She's in the break room currently grabbing hot water from the water cooler for her sandwich bag of instant coffee she's brought from home. Despite there being a fancy expresso machine in the lounge, she felt way too shy to take any.

She knows exactly why she drank last night – because she wasn't about to say 'no' to Bakugou. Her, she hopes that, that's what they are now – friend. They talked, drank, reminisced about their academy days because talking about their present lives was just plain boring or at least on her part it was. Things were much more exciting when they didn't have to worry about maintaining jobs or gaining a higher education.

It was nice though, he was a perfect gentleman, offering to walk her home rather than just call her a cab, which surprised her more than his willingness to actually casually converse with her as if only weeks passed between them and not years. Of course, she didn't let him walk her _all_ the way home, too embarrassed to show him the area. Instead she told him that the nearest train station was just fine and thanked him for the fun night.

As she was making her way to her apartment complex, her feet automatically stop her in front of blaring lights of signs telling her it's a sex shop. The windows were entirely blacked out to not show the inside.

Feeling hot and bothered after their last drink – she contemplates on entering in. She did say that the next time she ever got tipsy, she'd try and brave a shop for a little _friend_ but she still can't fully bring herself to be _that_ desperate that she needs _help_.

Shaking her head, she quickly takes long strides to get as far away as humanly possible from the ecchi place. She reminds herself that she's a strong, independent woman that can and is in control of her inner dark desires but that still didn't stop her from having a _very_ inappropriate dream about the blond man that she just spent her night getting to know again as a young adult.

Ochako's lost in her thoughts that she jumps when the hot water pours over her hand holding her mug under the machine. "Ah!" she yelps, setting her mug down on the counter and grabs napkins from a dispenser to dry the machine and floor.

In that moment that she's bent over, red tight-fitting pencil skirt showing off her round ass, that's when she feels a masculine hand slide behind and squeezes her. She's still bent over when she feels another's body heat pressed close to her. "Damn, I'd sure like a taste of that ass" a man's voice says.

Ochako cringes. Sure, she has her kinks in the bedroom but that definitely wasn't one of them. "You have exactly two seconds to get away from me" she grits her teeth, trying to balance her voice. They're not allowed to use their quirks during work hours but in that moment, she was ready to twist around, tap the man's shoulder and launch him up to the ceiling and leave him there.

Before the man could say a word or cause her any more trouble, she hears another person speak up. "Is there a problem here?" she recognizes that monotone, somewhat sleepy sounding voice anywhere.

"Hmph, you've just got saved" the man's tongue almost grazes her ear when he moves away.

"No, no problem here. Just seeing if the Miss here needed any help" the man says with a smirk that Hitoshi wasn't buying.

"Clearly she doesn't, so move along" he speaks up like a silent guardian angel.

The man leaves the secretary and security guard alone.

"You okay, Ochako?" Hitoshi asks her once they're left alone in the room.

Ochako finishes wiping the machine clean and what she can bend over to clean off the floor before straightening up. She turns around to flash the purple-haired man a grateful smile, "sometimes I hate this job but I'm fine, thank you" she bows to him and goes to throw away the soaked napkins.

Hitoshi nods with crossed arms over his chest, leaning against the side of the entrance, "it'd be breaking protocol but you know I would've used my quirk on him the second the idiot answered"

She's seen him use his quirk whenever they're having a slow day and their co-workers are messing around. "That would've been great" she giggles, remembering what silly antics he can order others to do.

"You're making yourself a coffee?"

"Yeah, but that jerk kinda killed the mood and coffee would've made my headache go away quicker"

"Hold off on that idea, I actually came in here to fetch you"

"Huh?" Ochako tilts her head, long bangs swaying to her right as she looks at him confused. What could possibly need her attention when she's on her lunch break?

"You've got a visitor" he simply reports, peeling himself off the wall and twists the doorknob, "I'm sure this will make your day better" he hides his smile, leaving her with vague words and exits.

Ochako knits her brows together and runs a rotation through her head of all her possible visitors. Eijirou works at a bistro across the city so he wouldn't have time to come see her even if he drove his car over. Mina tends to have her dance classes go a little over noon so it definitely wasn't her either. Her other friends would have the decency to text her before randomly showing up.

Her heart starts to quicken in pace when she thinks of the possibility of it being Bakugou. She just saw him last night, he couldn't possibly have a reason to come to her work place and she was sure she hadn't accidentally left something with him.

Gulping, she dumps her hot water down the drain of the sink and smooths over her black blouse and red pencil skirt. Exiting out of the room, she goes down the hall towards the elevators and goes all the way down. Mind still wandering around who her mystery guess could even be when she sees a flash of green hair.

"Guess who's back?" the voice says, standing right by the turnstile separating the two from each other.

Ochako can't run fast enough in her black heels as she swipes her badge and goes through the turnstile.

"Ahhh! Bun-Bun!" she jumps straight into his arms as the young man lifts her up and twirls her around.

Ochako tightly hugs him while smothering his face with tiny pecks to his freckled cheeks, her red lipstick marking him with tattooed kisses. "I've missed you so, so, so much!" she could cry with how much she's missed her closest best friend.

Izuku had been away traveling between America and Europe for several pro hero related world conferences/conventions that he's been away for a good six-months.

"I've missed you too!" he cheerfully laughs, squeezing her once and letting her down.

Her heels make a small 'clank' noise when he sets her down. "Wait, something's different about you…" she places her index finger against her chin and hums. Circling him around, she knows something is new but can't quite pinpoint what exactly it is.

He still has unruly curly green hair, wearing a solid red t-shirt, khaki shorts and his signature red shoes.

Izuku has never been one to hide secrets too well because his blush would always give him away. Rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand, he begins to nervously laugh, "oh, um, so… you can tell something's different…" he shyly looks away from her questioning chocolate brown eyes.

"Izuku…" she drawls out his given name, placing her hands on her hips and leans into him. "Spill" she lightly pokes his chest when he slowly pulls his left hand out of his pocket.

Ochako nearly screams like the happiest damn banshee in the entire universe when she sees the gold band wrapped around his ring finger. "You're getting married!" she gasps, taking both his hands into hers.

"Shouto proposed under the Eiffel Tower…" he blushes harder still feeling extremely shy and perhaps still a bit in disbelief himself. "You're the first person I've told" he confesses with a radiant smile.

She feels honored and touched to be the first to know, "I love you" she says, biting back her happy tears for him, not wanting to ruin her cheap non-waterproof mascara.

"To the moon and back" he tells her, cupping her chubby cheeks in his hands and leans down to kiss her forehead.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

 _She moans._

 _Body arching off the bed._

 _Desperate to let herself be heard, teeth scrape against her bottom lip._

 _She can't allow herself to be heard but the sensation of his sensual kisses light her soul ablaze._

 _She wants him to know that she's in ecstasy but is too modest, too shy to be heard._

 _Strong, muscular, masculine arms wrap around her petite waist, pulling her flushed against hard muscles._

 _Her breath escapes her when she feels him tugging on her ear, hot breath fans against her burning skin. She hears him, husky, in-need, dripping of honey, "say my name" he commands but she can't bring herself to._

 _She doesn't know who she's envisioning as his tongue glides down the side of her neck. He kisses and nips her throat, lapping his tongue on every love bite he leaves her drenched body. "Say my name" he begs, urging her to confess about whom she wants with such maddening lust._

 _Her heart starts racing when he moves up towards her glossy pink lips. His image starts to become clearer in her mind's eye – wild, passionate embers swirling in encased rubies, a scarlet stare looks back into her half-lidded toffee, smoky quartz eyes._

" _Say my name" his lips brush against her own, nipping her bottom lip. He groans and it drives her over the edge as she shudders, beginning to open her mouth to answer him._

"Katsuki…" Ochako feels her lips move on their own, the name so effortlessly coming out of her mouth, feeling like the most natural thing to say.

She shoots up, sitting up on her bed, thin sheets entangle her legs. Her chest heaves as she places her right hand over her heart and feels her heart thumping erratically from her dream. She's drenched in sweat, feeling hot and bothered, and shocked with herself.

She needs a cold shower.

These dreams have been reoccurring all week long. Shifting between making out to tearing each other's clothes off like wild animals – but no matter what route her dreams took, they'd always end before they go to the point of no return. Sometimes, she'd find herself severely disappointed by the way they'd abruptly stop and other times, she was glad because she doesn't want to dream about impossible what-if's.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"I swear I'm going crazy, Ei" she cries on Eijirou's couch, sitting crossed-legged, deciding that she needs to come clean with her friend because another second of this torment alone was something she greatly feared.

Ochako doesn't know what drastic measures she'd take if she doesn't tell one of her most trustworthy friend about her little predicament. She knows that Eijirou and Mina like to tease her about her sex life all the time and while she didn't mind because they were usually the ones trying to introduce her to people they thought that she _might_ like – this problem was on a whole other level than just her sad love life.

"I had a wet dream about Bakugou… but all we did was hang out as friends!" she cringes at herself, feeling disgusted by how her own body was getting in the way of her social life.

Normally, it was a lot easier to separate her heart, body, and mind from certain situations but ever since her small outing with the tall, grumpy, blond – it's like something inside her got all jumbled up.

"What if… what if… he miraculously decides to invite me to hang out again one day and I… I… won't even be able to look him straight in the eyes without restraining myself from jumping his bones" she rambles on, grateful that Mina wasn't there to tease her, "I swear, I'm not a pervert" she feels her eyelashes clumping together from her runny mascara.

Eijirou carefully listened to her, even asking her gently about the details of the things she's been dreaming about. Once he started to piece everything together, he deeply sighs, leaning in closer to her to wipe away at her black mascara with the pads of his thumbs. This wasn't his first rodeo, having to deal with his own girlfriend's stories of failed hook-ups almost every other week.

Now it was his turn to comfort Ochako, someone he loves just as dearly, "would you hate me if I told you to indulge in your desires?" he cautiously asks, figuring that he should come clean too about something he's known for some time now.

"W-W-What?" she hiccups, eyes widening at his suggestion.

"Katsuki…" he pinches the bridge of his nose, "he gets pissed off that I call him 'cursed' but it's a pattern I've noticed with him so I can't help it" he starts, hearing her sniffles calming down, "he's practically married to his job so he's not looking for any serious long-time commitments and that's not what women want to hear from him," Eijirou chuckles, bitterly shaking his head because his best friend is an idiot, "he's a guy, he's got his own needs and when he does get with a date, his dates…" he's trying to find the proper words but opts for just being blunt, "all the chicks that sleep with him are guaranteed to find a boyfriend or hell, even get fuckin' married after sleeping with him" he knows it sounds crazy but he's glad that Ochako is still intently listening to him, "he's like some 'cursed', good-luck charm or something so I think…" he shrugs, "that if you ask him to help you scratch an itch, that he wouldn't have any objections and you might find someone you actually like for yourself once y'know… he does you the favor"

"That sounds… horrible, Ei" Ochako wipes her eyes even more and shakes her head, "what about, Camie?"

Eijirou's now the one confused, "what about her?"

"Isn't she dating Bakugou?" she innocently asks.

He nearly laughs but doesn't want to scare her with the sudden mood change, "they're not together, just really close friends like how you and I are"

Ochako ignores the feeling of her chest thumping once again at the news. It's not like she was relieved that he's technically single or anything.

"So, what you're saying is… to ask Bakugou if he'll sleep with me just so I can test out this hypothetical 'curse' just so that I can find a decent guy afterwards that'll buy me roses and take me out on dates?"

"Yup, pretty much"

"Wouldn't that be hurting Bakugou's feelings? It feels so… dirty just using him like that"

"Oh, my sweet little Ochako" Eijirou shakes his head with an amused smile plastered on his face, "trust me, I'm one-hundred percent sure that he's not going to refuse your offer, besides, it's been awhile for him too…"

Ochako blushes at the thought, "dry spell?"

Eijirou gives her a look as if saying, 'you really need to ask.'

She thinks this idea is crazy, stupid, and just plain mean but if it can stop her from fantasizing and have a taste of the real deal – she'll do it. She'll do anything to quench her curiosity, her thirst, and stop her from sinking so low that she'd enter the red-light district just to find allievement.

"Okay, deal" she fidgets, reaching over to the coffee table to get her phone, "I'll text him and ask if we can meet"

Eijirou lightly smacks her bent knee, approving with a thumb's up, "Atta' girl!"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Uhuhuhu things are starting to heat up.

Tododeku has been somewhat introduced! I just love the idea and have the headcanon of Ochako calling Izuku, 'Bun-Bun' rather than 'Deku.'

And just assume from here on out that any time there's an implied sexy moment – there's Alina Baraz's music influencing the scene.

Next Time: Uraraka's Bold Request

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	5. Uraraka's Bold Request

AN: Ayyyyyeeeee _**Guest**_ reviewer *snaps finger guns your way* you caught onto the small reference. Haha.

Anyways I just wanna say (since a review I got on my other story kinda made me go ? and I felt like throwing in my two-cents) I don't write a super pissed off Bakugou that's got a major stick up his ass. He cusses, yes. He's rough around the edges, yes. He can be passionate/quiet, you bet'cha! He's a teenager (in canon) ooh heck yeah! He's super smart and strong, yes siree! But I just don't personally care to make him an exaggerated version of his canon-self. I try to keep him real, hell with even some of my own mindset since I'm also an Aries, but yeah homeboy is a major tsundere. He's got his shit to deal with and my boi is doing his very best to come around when it comes to Deku and letting others into his personal bubble. BUT I'd rather not go on a tangent about canon-Bakugou. Just, yeah, everyone's got their spice level for Bakugou but I keep him on a nice mild spice level. Also, they're older in this fic so he's of course, more mature about certain things.

Okay enough of my rants.

Notice: The text format is as follows: _**To: King Explodo-Saves**_ is the name that Katsuki put for himself on Ochako's phone / _**From: Ura-Fine Ass**_ is Katsuki's name for Ochako on his phone. (Ha, it can totally be read as 'U r a fine ass')

Happy reading~ :D

Uraraka's Bold Request

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

 _ **To: King Explodo-Saves**_

 _ **Hi, Bakugou! I was wondering if you'd be free to talk? Preferably somewhere private?**_

Ochako stares at the unread text message having just sent it a few seconds ago.

She's nervous, fidgeting on her creaky old bed, wondering if she was polite enough. But what if her message came off as suspicious? They had nothing between them, she tries to reason.

Just friends.

Blossoming friendship that she hopes she hasn't screwed up by asking if he's free to talk in person because deep down inside her heart, she's been really enjoying getting to know him. Now it's a fifty-fifty toss up to see if he'll agree to meet, hoping to not take him away from his busy work schedule, and of course seriously hoping he doesn't think she's grown up to be some kind of super-pervert.

It's a late friday afternoon which for her was a usual day off from work, having three days off but for him it either means that his station is packed full of varying cases from the typical cat stuck in a tree to dealing with a grease fire starting because a home cook didn't keep the fire on the stove low – or, he's just relaxing with nothing better to do.

She nearly jumps out of her bed when her phone alerts her with a small 'ping!' of a new text coming in.

 _ **From: Ura-Fine Ass**_

 _ **What's with the sudden eager puppy enthusiasm?**_

Ochako puffs up her chubby cheeks, clenching her phone in her right hand as she shakes it, "I'm not an eager puppy!" she scoffs, trying to keep her forming blush at bay by replying back to him.

 _ **To: King Explodo-Saves**_

 _ **Wow, rude. *rolls eyes* Are you free though? Sorry in advance if I'm keeping you! *sweat drop***_

 _ **From: Ura-Fine Ass**_

 _ **You should've said, 'sorry in advance' when you first texted me… dummy.**_

 _ **To: King Explodo-Saves**_

 _ **Bakugou…**_

 _ **From: Ura-Fine Ass**_

 _ **Yeah. I'm free. Come over to the station.**_

A second later she receives a gps attachment of a map telling her where he's located with the address written on the bottom.

Ochako bites her lip and takes a moment to calm herself down. "It's a public location, you'll go there and ask him if you can speak to him somewhere more private" she goes over her set of plans, "you've got this Ochako and if he rejects your request then no harm done" she tries to pep talk herself but boy was there harm for sure if he rejects her for being an uber pervert.

She'll go on for who knows how much longer, having erotic dreams about him and fighting with her inner-self to stay in control but she's burning from the inside out. She _needs_ this to succeed.

Getting up from her uncomfortable springy bed, she goes to shower and gets ready.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Twenty minutes later, she's checking her phone and texting him if it's still okay for her to drop by. He reassures her that it's 'slow as hell' and that he's just been watching his idiot co-workers lose yen on the portable pachinko machine that they have in the break room for reasons that he'll never understand.

She giggles at his annoyance and tells him that she'll be arriving as soon as she can. First, she needs to slam her door shut since it tends to get stuck and act like it doesn't want to close all the way. Then she'll mad-dash down flights of stairs because the stupid elevator decided to stop working just as the weather was growing warmer outside.

Her heart begins to pound against her ribcage once she's closing in nearer to his workplace in Asakusa. Ochako begins to feel the difference in their worlds as every step she takes, takes her closer to her destination. Bakugou works in a ritzier part of Tokyo and she assumes that he lives in the expensive area just as well from what she remembers of Eijirou telling her.

Her hands suddenly feel clammy as she smooths over her outfit. It's hot and hopes that she doesn't look too risqué with her off-shoulder pink chiffon crop top revealing a bit of her tummy, mid-thigh length white skirt with a cherry blossom floral print, and simple pink ankle strap flats with small heels.

She tries to reason with herself that she isn't trying to seduce him by showing off a bit of skin.

"You're just offering a proposal of sorts…" she mumbles to herself once she sends him another text to let him know that she's arrived once she sees the red firetruck stationed right outside.

 _ **From: Ura-Fine Ass**_

 _ **I'll be right out.**_

At his message, she's ready to bolt right out of there.

"I can't… I'm not brave enough… I can't hurt him like this…" she starts to pace around near the firetruck, her feet not fully allowing her to escape as she looks down on the ground and fights with herself for the hundredth-time that day.

Her morale compass has been spinning like crazy between getting what she wants and considering that just _maybe_ this might hurt him despite what Eijirou says about Bakugou being 'cursed' and not caring or whatever. He's got feelings too and she was ready to snuff out her own desperate flickering flame of wanton desires to be considerate of him as _friends_ should be.

She doesn't want to use him this way but at the same time her soul's crying on the inside to satisfy her curiosity about him because her dreams have woken her up far too many times now to take cold showers in the middle of the night that she's lost count of.

"What brings you to my domain, Pink Cheeks?" her ears perk up at the nickname as she turns around to see him wearing a navy blue shirt tucked into baggy black pants and laced-up boots.

Her mouth instantly opens and clamps up as she swallows _hard_.

She's dreamt of those bugling muscles in that form-fitting shirt being wrapped around her all week long. Fearing that she'll say something stupid and not witty at all if she comments on the fact that for once he has his shirt tucked in – she doesn't take the risk and looks into his ruby stare instead. Those mesmerizing eyes that have been swirling like passionate embers in her mind's eye as he has his way with her.

"I… umm…" she internally cringes at her inability to form words like a functioning human being, "I was wondering if we could talk somewhere a bit more private?" she gulps, giving herself a figurative pat on the back for getting to her point without any more stuttering.

"What for?" he raises a curious brow, crossing his arms over his chest as she watches his muscles flex in a daze.

"If you aren't busy or can spare me a couple of minutes I'd really appreciate it, _please_?" she wants to wince at how needy her voice came off as he gives her a questioning look. Hard red eyes boring into her own shy brown's, half-curious and half-thinking that she's acting weird.

"Yeah, okay" he sighs, knowing he's clearly not getting an answer here, "hold on" he tells her.

She nods with a bow, thanking him and waits as he goes back into the building. She chews on her bottom lip, trying to silence her own negative mind. Because why would he want to spare her any time out of his busy schedule to hear about how she wants to have sex with him to quench her thirst and see if his silly 'curse' will prove to be fruitful for her? They were high school classmates in the past and barely friends now in the present.

"'K, I clocked out for the day" he comes back a few minutes later, changed into a casual green t-shirt with a black printed logo for the band known as 'Deep Dope.' He's still wearing the same baggy black pants but switched his shoes for black high-top sneakers.

"Eh?! Y-Y-You really d-d-didn't need to do tha-that fo-for me-me!" she nearly twists her ankle with how fast she starts flailing her arms, hopping around like a flimsy puppet with a loose string.

"I didn't" he stretches his arms as he yawns, "it's slow as shit today and I was getting fucking tired of watching those idiots lose money to a damn gambler's hell hole" he seethes, hating the stupid pachinko machine his chief decided as a bright idea to install as some sort of stress reliever.

All it did was get on his nerves anytime he wanted to go the break room to get his energy drinks from the fridge and just hear 'cling!', 'ching!', 'wham!', 'bam!', 'winner, winner!', 'uh oh!'

The machine would pay sometimes but most of the time it'd just steal and there was just so much he could take from watching others get so enraptured by the game meanwhile all he wanted to do was blast it into oblivion.

"Oh…" Ochako nods her head, understanding that it wasn't for her sake that he got out early. Of course, it wasn't. They'll talk, she'll get her answer and they'll both go off on their merry way.

"We can talk at my place, it's not that far from here" he says as he starts walking towards the employee's parking.

Her knees feel weak at his words. His apartment?! She called it, oh did she call it – he lives in this rich area and it was starting to make her palms buzz with a low amount of energy from her quirk. All she had to do was make herself float away but if the thought of being invited to his place to _talk_ wasn't bad enough – he's revving up the engine of a motorcycle the second she snaps out of her thoughts.

"Here, wear this" he tells her, handing over his single bright orange helmet.

She can't even gurgle out a protest that she's scared to ride on the back of his motorcycle while their bodies are pressed so tightly together because she's ready to combust at just the thought of touching him in any way.

"C'mon, we don't got all day" he orders, gently shoving the helmet into her hands.

Her legs almost give out on her as she obliges.

She hops on and tries to recite all the elements on the periodic table in order to distract her wandering mind from lingering too long on other questions she has zero answers to about him.

He smells amazing like an aged spice aftershave and clean linens. It was something she couldn't quite describe but it wasn't helping her at all. With their close proximity, the fact that she was resting on his strong back, nor when he felt her hands trembling wrapped around his waist as he placed his left hand on top of hers to soothe her as he revved up the engine and drove with just his right.

Ochako was dying on the inside.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

His apartment is a total bachelor's pad.

A spacious two-bedrooms, two-baths. With one bath located inside the master bedroom, the second room currently being used as office space located right across the master, and the second bathroom all down one long hallway.

Clean, sleek, modern.

Marble counters, metallic silver kitchenware, black couches and bar stools, a large flat screen tv mounted on the wall, light and dark grey painted walls, some abstract paintings here and there, white curtains and an impressive view of the city from his large rectangular windows.

That was just the living room and kitchen area that she could take in the sight of from the entrance. This was how the rich lived and it made her have mixed feelings as if she were tainting anything she touches in the apartment.

Her shoes are neatly placed to the side on the lower step of the entrance. Her feet are instantly greeted with a nice warmth emitting from the light wooden floorboard of the heating system. She wants to cry with how envious she's quickly becoming.

"You have a nice place" she compliments, knowing that there's no way in hell she'd ever be able to show him where she lives. He lives amongst kings while she's still stuck living like a poor peasant out of choice.

He shrugs, "it'll do"

She wants to roll her eyes at his nonchalance.

"So, what's so damn secretive that you've got me bringing you over to my place?" he cuts straight to the chase.

He gestures for her to take a seat on the couch or wherever she'd like to get comfortable as he goes for the couch himself.

She's too fidgety, settling to sit down across from him. She can't bring herself to look at him because she knows the time has finally come to come clean about her strange texts and has been dreading it. How does one even start a weird conversation like this?

Ochako nervously twiddles her thumbs together and braces herself for the looming rejection.

"I was…" she deeply gulps, "wondering if you'd do me the favor of…" ah, here she goes, "sleeping with me? Eijirou told me that…" she can almost laugh at how silly and pathetic it sounds, "you're 'cursed' and how any one you do sleep with, will usually find their match after and I really…" she makes a mental note hoping she still has wine and not the cooking type at home so she can cry and wallow in her self-pity later, "I really want a boyfriend" she cringes at how utterly desperate she sounded but it's the truth, "I know I have no right to request this of you because we're just getting to become friends but I'll completely understand if you don't and just hope that we can forget all about this later on. We can laugh about it over drinks someday… because I really am enjoying getting to know you Bakugou and…" she wants to bite her inner cheek and stop herself from babbling on like an idiot but she doesn't know where her own off-switch is.

"Yeah, okay" she hears him speak up.

"H-H-Huh?" she squeaks out.

"You want a good fuck, right? Something to make you see stars or some shit?"

Ochako's teeth clench, jaw hurting, pulse leaping erratically.

He patiently waits for her response.

Her mouth feels parched, clicking her tongue as she sharply breaths out, " _Yes_ "

He nods watching as her bare knees rub together knowing the tell-tale signs that she's in need of help. "Fine but let's get a couple of things fuckin' straight, Pink Cheeks" he sets some grounds rules for them.

"O-O-Okay"

"First off, I ain't fuckin' 'cursed' or whatever Shitty Hair says. I'm just not interested in all that touchy-feely shit that comes with a serious relationship so if you find someone who makes you happy then congrats. We fuck, you get what you want and I get what I want. No hard feelings, no strings attached. Use me whenever you're in the mood and I'll do the same" he goes on to explain that she's allowed to kiss him and scratch him up just not to go overboard with hickeys. He'll further explain bedroom kinks once they get to those moments.

She takes in everything he's said, eagerly agreeing and in disbelief that Eijirou had been right.

"I'm not that fuckin' heartless, Ochako, we'll still be friends after this" he makes her heart nearly stop by using her real given name instead of his endless nicknames he has for her. His voice had grown softer, even giving her a small reassuring smile.

She wants to profusely thank him, get up and agree to text him to know when they can get started but she's wobbly when she does finally move to get up and walk towards his apartment's entrance.

"Where the hell are you going, Round Face?" he switches back to being annoyed, stopping her in her tracks when she's about to excuse herself.

"H-H-Home?" she questions, confused about how all this is supposed to work.

"I thought you wanted my body?" he rolls his eyes, voice laced with a teasing tone that takes her by surprise as he waits for her to get the gist of what's going to happen.

She's ready to jump him then and there, " _I do_ " she confirms, barely able to take a step out of his place. Her features get washed over with wanton lust, half-lidden eyes, and parted lips. She's been dying for relief for what felt like forever now. Being touched that he'd still want to continue their blossoming friendship once they do this and ever grateful to him for helping her out in her time of need.

She greatly appreciates the fact that she didn't have to tell him the full details about how much her love life sucks. He was willing to be a friend to her without needing much explaining on her part because she knows that he simply doesn't care.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako can't tell if she's just that in need of a man's touch that when Bakugou roughly captures her lips into his – molding them into one, tongue prying her lips open to further let him in. His hands caressing all her curves and firmly touching her ass, that she lets out a lengthy moan.

His kisses leave her scorched, as he trails her throat, licking and nipping her in the same vivid way that she's dreamt of so many times before but now it's a reality. "What do you want?" his hot, husky voice teasingly asks when he moves up to her ear again, lightly tugging on her earlobe.

Letting out a breathy mewl, "you" she nearly chokes on how urgent she sounds.

Her back arches when he caresses the side of her thighs, gliding his large callous hands underneath her skirt, rubbing her skin up and down. It was driving her insane, knowing that she didn't need the extra added attention because she was more than ready to get to the final stage but she loves that he still sensually tortures her.

He groans, feeling a pleasant heat radiating off of her that he can only assume has been growing for quite some time now. He kisses her kiss-swollen lips once before deciding that he won't be mean to her as he momentarily gets off the bed to better undress and search for one crucial foil packet.

She's a former classmate and current friend that he's helping out with a problem. He has no qualms about scratching her itch if it means that it'll scratch his own. He isn't actively looking for love as she is so their special arrangement works just fine for him. Once she finds some dweeby goodie-goodie loser to settle down with – he'll simply fuck off and pretend as nothing ever happened between the two friends.

Bakugou swiftly takes off his t-shirt, throwing it somewhere on his floor as he plays nice and gives her a show. He normally wouldn't bother but again – they're friends and she's currently a heavily panting mess on his bed, short brown hair sprawled all over his pillow, and is clawing at her own clothes to be freed.

He unzips and pulls down a partial view of what's to come.

"Holy shit…" Ochako gasps, wide-eyed.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

And then they frick-fracked. LOL. Oh, ho, there'll be _plenty_ of that to come.

Katsuki's got sweet innocent Ochako speechless and cursing.

As I write this story, I'm being reminded of how _some_ 'classic' Rated PG-13 teenage romcom movies from the 80's that I've watched during my 'hipster' phase of marathoning old movies that have been around since long before my time that are by far, definitely a whole lot _more_ explicit than the little teasing implied stuff that I'm even covering in this fic. It's the basis as to why I believe that Rated T fics can dance around that Rated M border without directly touching those waters. After all, that's the beauty of imagination~ Trolololol.

Next Time: Strike One

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	6. Strike One

AN: I'm really enjoying writing this fic and reading your reviews never fails to amuse me. Thank you!

Happy reading~ :D

Strike One

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

It's three in the morning on saturday when Izuku groggily gets up like a zombie out of his nice warm bed at the sound of someone frantically pounding his apartment's front door.

"Hu… huh?" he mumbles, wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth.

He maneuvers through his maze of moving boxes, still settling into his new place now that he's permanently back in Tokyo after being away for six months. His recently announced fiancé Shouto was still finishing last minute work that he wouldn't be back in Japan for another month or so.

Fumbling with the door knob, he doesn't bother to check who it might be through the peep-hole.

Opening, he finds his best friend wearing what he assumes was her clothes from yesterday due to all the wrinkles.

"O-Och–" he loudly yawns, "Ochako?"

"H…Hi… Bun-Bun…" she's quiet, barely above a whisper asking him, "can I spend the night here with you?"

He strains to hear her but nods, taking her by the hand, closing his door behind them and leads her to his bedroom – exactly back to where he wants to be.

Crawling back under his still-warm covers, he snuggles back into his comfortable spot and starts to doze off as he hears her walking around his bedroom, already knowing she's more than welcomed to borrow his clothes.

"I'm… um… going to take a quick shower" she tells him when he just makes a small noise acknowledging her.

A flash of light disturbs him for a brief moment as he turns his back to not face it, guessing that she's entered his bathroom and even more so once he hears water running.

He knocks out for a good thirty minutes before he feels the side of his mattress sink with a new weight entering. He slowly turns around to face her, forcing one eye to peek over to her side and sees that she's using a pair of his winter mittens.

"Ca…n't… sl-sle…ep?" he struggles to sound coherent.

"I… had sex with Bakugou…" she blurts out.

"Tha…that's… nice…" he sleepily mumbles until her words ring loud and clear causing him to fully wake up. "YOU, WHAT?!" he shoots out of bed and stares at her with fully blown emerald wide-eyes.

"Oh gosh, please don't make me repeat myself, Bun-Bun…" Ochako covers her face behind fuzzy green mittens.

"Is that why you came over here?" he softly asks, "Did you just leave Kacchan's place?"

She nods, still hiding. "I was afraid that my quirk would activate without my night mittens and didn't know how I'd act in the morning… so when he fell asleep… I left him a note and left. I… uhh… don't know how to feel"

"Did you… at least… umm… enjoy it?" he rubs the back of his neck, still slowly trying to unveil the truth from his blushing friend.

"More than you know" she blushes harder, "I really needed it…"

He hums, knowing all about her long history of failed relationships and dates. Before he and Shouto had decided to live together, she'd always come to his place and spend the night. He'd help her bury her sorrows behind a wall of snacks, gallon buckets of creamy ice cream from their favorite place and one bottle of whatever wine had the highest alcohol content they could find.

Their little foodie moment had ended once he had moved in with Shouto but she'd still come over and the three of them would spend their night marathoning movies with a big bowl of buttery popcorn while bad-mouthing the jerks who couldn't see what a treasure she is.

That all stopped when he had to move away for work and all the responsibility of having to care for Ochako went to Eijirou and Mina. Izuku felt incredibly touched that now that he just recently moved back that she still considers him a best friend that she can rely on.

Truth be told, he was surprised that Ochako had reconnected with Katsuki. He was always that grumpy classmate that either kept quiet to himself or exploded with high energy whenever something ticked him off. He and Izuku were childhood best friends growing up around the same neighborhood but once puberty hit, they had a huge falling out in middle school, only to reconnect themselves their second year of high school – now they were good friends that texted each other as much as their busy lives would allow them to.

"Were you able to…?"

"Yes"

"How many times?"

"I lost count after the fifth one"

Izuku licks his dry lips to whistle. "Kacchan's that good I see"

"I thought I died for a moment because of how much I enjoyed it but ahh…" she uncovers her hidden face to look at him, "even now I can still feel his hands all over me, ugh, those skillful fingers and his… tongue" she could moan at the thought of her new fresh memories.

Izuku can't help but chuckle at bit, "looks like I owe Kacchan money"

"For what?"

"He pissed me off one time when I was badly missing Shouto and he kept ranting on and on about how he has a record of making women… y'know"

"What was the record?"

"He wouldn't tell me just," Izuku clears his throat to imitate Katsuki's voice, " _You're a weak little bitch if you can't get women to do it at least ten times or more_ " he rolls his eyes returning to his normal voice, "I told him I didn't believe him, even with my limited experience with women and he told me that he'd make me eat my own words one day"

"Guess I've failed there… but at least now you've got proof" Ochako sighs wishing she could've kept count on herself but she was so pent up that she wasn't thinking about anything except for the sensation.

"Well… it was your first time with him so don't feel too bad" he tries to cheer her up, "I'm glad that you two are friends… or more? Are you two dating since I'm confused here"

She's quick to shake her head and fill him on everything that has happened while he's been severely out of the loop. She tells him about Denki and Kyouka's wedding and how she reunited with Bakugou there. Then she tells him how they went bar hopping and how after that one night they hung out – her annoying wanton desires decided to nag her. It's like her uterus honed in on him like the perfect candidate it chose for itself or something. She doesn't know. Finally, she comes to the point that landed her in this current too-good-to-be-true arrangement and that was her crying to Eijirou about her personal needs and him telling her to ask Bakugou for help.

"I know Eijirou told me that Bakugou wouldn't care that I'm practically using him just to see if I'll find a decent boyfriend and even Bakugou has told me that he's fine with this but I still feel guilty like I'm doing something wrong"

"You don't feel anything for Kacchan right?"

Ochako thinks about it for a second, if she doesn't then she shouldn't hesitate. At least she thinks, no, she's pretty sure she doesn't. "No, he's just a friend"

"So that's that. If Kacchan told you himself that he's not going to get his feelings hurt or whatever then you shouldn't feel bad. You two can always stop this and just go back to being normal friends" he tries to reason, knowing that Katsuki is an idiot as does Eijirou.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" she agrees, telling her morale compass to take it down a notch, "I'm just new to all this but I am super grateful for his help"

Izuku can see the first rays of light seeping into his bedroom from his closed blinds of his window, "Kacchan can be a lot of work sometimes but he'd never purposely hurt you" he reassures her with a smile, leaning over to kiss her forehead, "now, let's go to sleep" he yawns.

Ochako can feel her eyes drooping, "I love you, Bun-Bun"

"To the moon and back" he softly whispers.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako wasn't expecting Bakugou's 'curse' to start working right away.

But… she wouldn't exactly call this an official date if she's helping out another married friend. She's standing right outside of a corner diner with a taller figure.

"Sorry I called you so early in the day, Ochako… you were the first person to pick up" Tetsutetsu frowns as he apologizes for having her come all the way to Shibuya to meet him at a small diner.

Ochako shakes her head with a smile on her lips, "no, it's fine, I was in the area!" she reassures him, really having been in the area.

She had left Izuku's place in Kichijoji and took the train back to her area in Shinjuku to take another shower and get dressed in fresh clothes. From Bakugou's place to Izuku's – it was a bit of a lengthy trip to make especially in the late hours of the night but she really didn't want to be alone and opted to just suck it up and go for it. Once she had arrived home, she took a few moments to collect her thoughts before going about the rest of her day. She finished freshening up and ventured out, going to Shibuya either way to get some shopping done when she received a text as she arrived.

"I really appreciate it since I didn't want to go to Eijirou… we have similar mindsets and I know he wouldn't be able to help me" Tetsutetsu confesses, holding the door open for her.

Ochako thanks him and enters first, "you sure you two aren't secretly brothers?" she teases as they settle into a booth.

Tetsutetsu laughs, sitting across from her, "from different mothers, that's for sure"

"So, what's been on your mind?" she curiously begins, wanting to understand his predicament as she looks over the breakfast menu.

"Well, I kinda said something insensitive to Itsuka and she started seeing red. She made me sleep on the couch last night and I'm too afraid to face her" he tells her, cringing at the memory of how stupid he had been, "I know it's not manly at all but I know I screwed up"

They pause as a waitress comes to take their orders. Giving the waitress their menus, they thank her and wait for their food.

"Well she is seven months pregnant, of course she'll be moody…" Ochako sighs, "what exactly did you say?" she knows she's going to need to fix this as soon as possible.

Tetsutetsu warns her that he was just being dumb and not thinking at all, "we were arguing over the nursey furniture and I got fed up and just told her that we could save money on a crib if she'd just use her quirk…"

"Ooh…" Ochako puckers her lips in a sour way, now being able to see why his wife was pissed at him, "yeah, that'll do it for sure"

Tetsutetsu runs his fingers through his silver hair and groans out loud, "I don't know how to make it up to her!" he rubs his hands up and down his face, "And If I went to her other friends, they'd kick my ass for sure except for you, Ochako"

"I'd rather not use my quirk for violence but yes, you're right" she nods.

"Please help me" he begs.

She knows that this is the first child her friend's having. The young couple is nervous, excited, scared, and trying to do everything perfectly the first time. She thinks about what she can do on her part to help one moody, heavily pregnant friend not kill her husband.

"While that's a low blow, Tetsutetsu, tell her that you weren't trying to be cheap" she explains, "tell her the truth, yes, you were frustrated with planning the nursery but," she licks her glossy lips and shrugs, "her quirk can not only be used _just_ for offense but defense and you were thinking that your son would be the safest cradled in his mother's hands"

Tetsutetsu lets her advice sink in as he rises from his seat in a 'eureka' moment, "yeah, exactly!" he sits back down before more wandering eyes look their way. "My Itsuka's got a kick ass quirk and I couldn't be prouder to have her be the mother of my child! I know I screwed up but I didn't mean it in that way. I know she's had her eye on this one crib so the manliest thing I can do is go and surprise her with it!"

Ochako giggles, liking the sounds of his plans while being reminded of Eijirou. Whenever he did something to get Mina mad at him – he'd dramatically drop to his knees into a dogeza apology and immediately go buy her something that she's had her eye on. Of course, with those two half the time, Mina only pretended to be angry to get things that she wants. Eijirou was quick to realize this and called her out for being a sneaky evil vixen while she laughs but he'd still play along. That's just how their relationship worked.

Their food arrives and they eat, pleasantly conversing about other things. Tetsutetsu invites her over to the baby shower, saying that they've finally settled on a date to have it. He's been swamp with work at the construction site he's currently placed at and Itsuka had to take time off from teaching martial arts at her family's dojo once her belly had gotten too big.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"She just fuckin' left" Katsuki grumbles, setting up his smartwatch to monitor his heartrate before starting his jog.

"Dude, she's not used to having a booty call on demand whenever she wants it. Cut her some slack" Eijirou stretches next to him.

It was sunday and Katsuki hasn't heard from Ochako at all. When he woke up on saturday morning, he found his clothes he had discarded on the floor, neatly folded and placed on top of his dresser. A written note was placed on his night table, thanking him for the night spent together and that she'll text him.

He didn't care if she had wanted to spend the night at his place. Hell, he was even willing to make them a breakfast because he isn't that much of a heartless asshole when it comes to these things.

"I'll look like a prick if I ask her to meet up with me if she's not ready to face me yet" he's pissed and doesn't exactly know at what.

"You guys just dove right in, right? Didn't really talk shop?"

"I needed it too so yeah, guess you could say I was a little eager to fuckin' get started without thinking about it" he confesses, having been too busy with his job to really find his own hook ups. He knew that bars and nightclubs weren't exactly the places to go find a soulmate or whatever but they worked just fine for him.

It was always a hit or miss with the women he'd spend the night with. Some were genuinely great women looking for that special someone and a serious commitment that he couldn't give them. Others were clingy and would stalk him until he'd threaten them with a restraining order or worse – arson. He wasn't just a firefighter, he too had a fire-based quirk. He wasn't serious though but it did stop the stalking, not caring to have a drink thrown in his face once the women saw that he didn't want them.

When Ochako had come to him for help and saw that burning lust behind those usually bright chocolate brown eyes – something inside him stirred. He felt relieved that it was someone he's at least known for a couple of years compared to someone he's barely remembered the name of after a couple of hours.

Katsuki respects her and her quirk which was already saying a lot since not many had the honor to gain his full undivided attention from the get-go. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't at least a bit curious about how she is in bed.

"You know, it's kinda nice of you to be helping Ochako out with her problem. You're using your 'curse' for the greater good!" Eijirou lightly joked, smacking Katsuki's back with a loud laugh.

Katsuki rolled his eyes, "I'm not fuckin' 'cursed' Shitty Hair and hell yeah, see what a good friend I'm being to Moon Face?"

"Moon Face?" Eijirou's ears perk up at the new nickname.

"Ah, shit…" Katsuki grunts to himself, hoping that Eijirou didn't hear him. Ever since his night spent with Ochako, he couldn't help give her a new nickname. Not after seeing the way the moon's light illuminated his dark room as he had his way with her. And when he noticed the moon's glow hitting her just right as he had his hand supporting him above on his headboard.

"Okay, let's jog," he coughs clearing his tight feeling throat, "I've got way better things to do than spend most of my day with you"

"Aww, but I thought you loved me!" Eijirou takes a sip of his water bottle with a huge grin plastered on his face.

"I don't, you're a pain in my ass!" Katsuki likes to remind him on a daily basis. He'll never admit that he genuinely savors getting to hang out with someone other than Camie for once. If only he didn't work so much, he'd have more of a social life.

"Hey, you sure that this is fine with you? You don't like, Ochako, right?" Eijirou switches his tone, asking him a serious question for once.

He doesn't know why everyone keeps asking him if this is fine. If he said it was then it is.

"Yeah, Round Face is just a friend" he's quick to answer, feeling a knot twist in his stomach.

Katsuki has told himself repeatedly ever since friday that he's helping a former classmate he's been enjoying getting to reconnect with in their young adult years. They're not kids anymore and getting to see how different they are now has intrigued him. It was something refreshing to look forward to when he does the same thing day in and day out for the past couple of years.

He's trying to make more of an effort to spend time with what little friends he has. Like having called Eijirou to see if he'd like to accompany him for a jog today. He'll slowly build up to seeing if his other friends were available to hang out soon enough. Knowing that he'll have to wait sometime before reaching out to Denki since he's currently away on his honeymoon. For now, he was mainly caught up on getting to know all about Ochako, someone who's always been near him but never close.

He hears Eijirou give him a judgmental hum that he hates with a passion.

"If I can help her find her cheesy ass prince charming then so be it" Katsuki firmly replies, "I don't need love in my life to feel accomplished" he ignores the twist in his stomach again. He'll stomp at the first signs of embers in his soul because the foreign feeling of seriously considering that he might in fact like someone was both terrifying and ridiculous in his eyes.

He reasons with himself that he's just feeling weird because he's been in his own funk of a dry spell for a couple of months now. Yeah, that's exactly it – he's not caught up in emotions or whatever.

"C'mon, try and keep up, loser" he tells Eijirou, jogging away.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Eijirou and Izuku both know that Katsuki is an idiot.

Maybe, just maybe, Katsuki might know the same. Uhuhuhu.

What Ochako and Izuku were talking about in case the implication wasn't clear: climax.

Yes, I have a soft spot for TetsuKendo.

Next Time: Strike Two

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	7. Strike Two

AN: Oh, what's this? Another update so soon _and_ it's the longest chapter thus far? Y'all are so spoiled.

Was in a writing mood and I'm just enjoying this trolling fic idea to bits.

Doesn't help that I'm being fueled by the fact that I found and read a small snippet of a translated interview between Nobuhiko Okamoto and Ayane Sakura (Bakugou and Uraraka's Japanese seiyuus) regarding their character's relationship that was shared on Twitter under the Kacchako tag during the 'light-up Kyoto Tower in your favorite pair colors poll' that just ended.

They said how Bakugou would be _strong_ against Deku but _weak_ to Uraraka because she'd have the upper hand. (My boi is a hella tsundere!) And they also commented on how Ochako would tease Katsuki but not sure if it was intentional/accidental. Haha. Oh man, I had a freakin' _moment_ when I read that. It's always fun getting to see a seiyuu's view on their own characters and what their personal opinions on certain dynamics are.

Notice: The text format is as follows: _**To: Pinky Alien Queen**_ is the name that Mina put for herself on Ochako's phone / _**From: Ura-Cutie**_ is Mina's name for Ochako.

Okay, enough of my ramblings.

Happy reading~ :D

Strike Two

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

" _Ahhh… Baku-Ba-Bakugou!" a sweet feminine voice cried out, back arched, and nails sinking into hard back muscles._

" _O-Och-Ochako…" he heavily panted giving her all the unadulterated sinful passion, he could._

Katsuki awoke drenched in sweat.

His mind replaying the events of past friday to him with every thought being filled with that shy chubby cheeked woman who initiated this agreement. He was feeling pissed at the fact that she hasn't texted him like she said she would. He gets that she's not used to doing things this way but a text to meet up while he has the free time to would've been nice.

He normally wouldn't care if whoever he spent the night with never called him back but this was different. Was it so wrong of him to make sure that she was okay with this? She's strong as hell but still sensitive and he didn't want her being eaten away with her second-guessing if their arrangement was okay.

"Whoa, did someone have a hella good dream last night, Bakubro?" Camie's voice alerts him that he isn't home alone. Just his luck. She's wearing a mischievous playful grin on her lips as she points to his blanket being elevated on his lower half.

Katsuki takes his pillow behind him to cover himself up. Taking the other pillow next to his side, he flings it towards her, "fuckin' get out!" he growls seeing that it's barely six-thirty in the morning on monday.

Camie heartily laughs putting her hands up in surrender, "I'm just here to like wake yo ass up for work" she tells him since he hadn't replied to her morning texts, "got a bit worried that you ko'd or something"

"Thanks…" he grumbles, not in the mood to explain himself as he takes off his blankets not caring that she sees. "Go make coffee" he tells her with a yawn, knowing she probably already has the kettle on the stove.

"Got ya, fam!" he hears her say as she steps out of his bedroom. He goes to the bathroom to take a cold shower and take care of his little problem.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Whoa, you landed two dates?" Eijirou is thoroughly impressed with both the fact that he's been right about Bakugou's so called 'curse' and the fact that it's already working for Ochako.

Ochako nods her head as she slowly stirs her bowl of food. She, Eijirou, and Mina came out for okonomiyaki since it's been a slow day for all three of them. She was told she could go home early because there was nothing to do with all the higher up bosses gone on vacation for the upcoming golden week. The bistro that Eijirou works at was going to be closed for a few weeks while they renovate the place and Mina was her own boss so she could work whenever she pleased.

"On saturday night when I was walking home from Shibuya, I bumped into Kosei Tsuburaba and then on sunday morning I was taking the shinkansen and bumped into Sen Kaibara" she tells them, dumping her contents on the hot plate to cook.

"Wait, those are dudes from class B, right?" Mina pipes up, shaking a heaping amount of bonito flakes to her own savory pancake.

"Yup, they told me that they wanted to get to know me since our classes didn't often get to interact due to not sharing the training arenas at the same time… and I figured, why not?" she shrugs, hearing her food sizzling, "we've all changed since high school so it might be fun to get to know them" she recalls when the boys were ogling and drooling at the sight of them when they wore cheerleading outfits. Back then, she was a lot shyer about revealing a bit of skin and while she still dresses modest – she doesn't mind showing a bit of sex appeal from time to time.

"When's your first date?" Eijirou smiles, congratulating her for the victory. Maybe if it were someone from U.A., she'd have a better chance at finding someone she genuinely likes.

"I'm going to have dinner with Tsuburaba on thursday night and on friday night Kaibara said he's taking me to the movies" she tells them, flipping over her pancake to cook the other side.

Eijirou and Mina both give each other a knowing look. "The movies? Isn't the whole point of a date to socialize?"

"Yeah but I think he was just shy? He was frowning and mumbling when he asked me out but" she sighs wanting to stay optimistic about the date before completely marking it as a fail, "it all depends on the type of movie we watch and if he wants to go hang out afterwards so we can actually talk"

"That's our girl!" they cheer in unison, giving Ochako a big thumb's up knowing that if the guy can't find a common interest with her such as the genre of movie then it was a no-go. Even worse if he doesn't offer to spend time with her after they get out of the theater.

Ochako is like a precious flower. She needs sunlight, water, and social interaction in order to thrive.

"Oh gosh, you two are so embarrassing!" she giggles, placing her food on a plate.

"Well duh, we love you so much and just want you to be happy!" Mina blows her an air kiss, plating hers and Eijirou's food.

"Yeah, and you know you can always text me to come rescue you if it's another flop" Eijirou reminds her, leaning over the table to reach for the bottle of kewpie mayo.

"Thanks you guys, I love you too!" Ochako's heart always feels full with having her friends unconditional support.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Thursday came by and Ochako still hasn't texted Bakugou at all, still too shy and embarrassed. Not knowing what to say to him after their one steamy night together – she's hoping that he won't either be too pissed off at her once she finally does decide to meet up with him or that he'll be the first to reach out to her.

She can't worry about that now that she's on her way to her date with Kosei Tsuburaba from class B. He was someone that usually hung out with Neito Monoma's group of friends and was a part of his team during the sports festival in their first year. And when they did their forest training camp, Kosei was unfortunately amongst the first to be affected by Mustard's toxic sleeping gas quirk. She just knows what she's heard from Itsuka about how Kosei suffered a concussion after being treated like a limp sack of potatoes. That was one chaotic night that she doesn't think she'll ever forget.

Ochako went up against that psychopath Himiko Toga and the League had kidnapped Bakugou which was tough on all of class A but she in particular just didn't like thinking about that one horrific moment thinking that she had lost a friend.

When she arrived to meet up with Kosei, two things were running through her mind.

One: she's glad she didn't get dressed up because she had a hunch that her date wasn't going to take her to a nice cheap restaurant or café. No, they were at the local konbini. Like she knows she's a penny pincher herself but this was already a nightmare.

Two: she's itching to reach for her phone in her blue capri's pocket to get out of this ridiculously cheap date. All she had to do was excuse herself and pretend that her phone was receiving a text message so she could quickly send a text to either of her two s.o.s options (she knows she now has her Bun-Bun back but didn't want to disturb him while he's still settling into his new place) and wait for them to actually call her back. Yeah, she can hold off for that long.

Kosei wasn't one to really go out of his way, settling for less rather than more. It was his motto in everything he did, thinking that Ochako would be on the same page as him. He was nice, somewhat talkative, but wouldn't even budge to pay for his own date's meal and it was instant ramen.

If Ochako wanted instant ramen for dinner, she has an abundance at home, not really making the effort to cook for herself most of the time. Right now, she could've been at home in her cute light cotton pajamas binge watching something on her pink laptop while in bed.

Shooting the s.o.s text in her group chat as soon as Kosei went to the prep station to pour hot water into his ramen – she impatiently waited to be rescued. Her date returned asking her if she was okay and she assured him that she was fine, lying about not being hungry when he saw that she hadn't picked any of the various ramen selections.

"Ahh, I'm so sorry! I really must take this call!" she lies, excusing herself to hop off the counter stool and go talk in private but still staying close enough in case Kosei was eavesdropping.

"What! Oji-chan, what did I tell you about staying in bed! Don't move, I'll be there soon!" Ochako hangs up a second later and bows, deeply apologizing for having to bail out early on the date. She doesn't bother to say that she'll contact him another time and scurries off.

Running around the corner, she makes her way across another alley filled with small food stalls and goes to the next major street where Eijirou was waiting for her in his red jeep.

She tightly hugs him and gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you! Thank you!" she dramatically thanks him for having to save her as she hops into his car.

Eijirou chuckles, returning the kiss and telling her that she's lucky that his date with some hostess who frequents the bistro he works at had to reschedule. He goes to his side and starts up the engine, driving her back to her place.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako is starting to seriously wonder if she's just extremely picky. It wasn't that her dates weren't nice guys, it's just that she craved something _more_.

Sen Kaibara is another former U.A. graduate from class B that she's just getting to know as an adult. After their first year at the academy, Vlad King-sensei had taken up a major competitive spirit against Aizawa-sensei, causing both A and B classes to not participate as frequently as they could've thus straining the superior/inferior complexes some students felt of the divide.

She's currently sitting through a historical documentary about the sengoku period feeling her soul seeping out from how boring it was. Sen didn't even bother asking her if she wanted to pick out the movie! That was definitely worth minus ten points in her book.

At least he had been kind enough to buy her a small thing of popcorn but he didn't ask for butter so she's stuck with a bucket of salt instead and no drink. She had to buy her own and stocked up on sweets while she's at it.

Twirling a red licorice in her mouth, she's nearly drooling red sticky syrup with how much she's zoning out. Sneaking a peek at her date, he's wearing his usual stoic expression with a small gleam of amusement in his eyes.

All she wanted to do was gouge out her own.

Knowing that he's too engrossed with the film to even bother checking if she's just as into it as he is – she pulls out her phone and turns to her side to not flash light in his direction.

 _ **To: Pinky Alien Queen**_

 _ **Please. PLEASE. Save ME. S.O.S!**_

 _ **From: Ura-Cutie**_

 _ **What if I was in the middle of mind-blowing sex? :P**_

 _ **To: Pinky Alien Queen**_

 _ ***Groans* Miiiiina…**_

 _ **From: Ura-Cutie**_

 _ **Even if I was, you'd know I'd stop in the middle of and come save your ass.**_

 _ **To: Pinky Alien Queen**_

 _ **THANK YOU. You're a life saver! *cry***_

 _ **From: Ura-Cutie**_

 _ **I'm charging you in a bestie hang out day and frozen yogurt.**_

 _ **To: Pinky Alien Queen**_

 _ **Deal.**_

 _ **From: Ura-Cutie**_

 _ **Omw.**_

Ochako starts to violently cough, telling Sen that she should've told him that she was feeling a bit under the weather. He tells her not to worry about it and that he hopes she feels better, not even asking if he can text her later or offer to buy her something to drink for her 'cough'!

She leaves the theater feeling dejected.

Another bust.

"Is it sad how I've mastered the art of lying?" she deeply sighs, placing her head against Mina's shoulder.

Mina rubs her back gently and kisses the top of her head, "if you're gonna fall in love, it has to be with someone you one-hundred percent enjoy being with no matter what it is!"

Ochako groans, wanting to kick herself for feeling so anxious and rushed to have the one missing piece in her life – love. She has a job that she likes most days, amazing friends, the craziest, silliest adventures with said friends who love her as much as she loves them, lives in a great city despite having a crappy apartment but she's happy with what little she has because to her it's gold. She's just wishing for that special someone, someone she can come home to and share her soul with.

"C'mon, let's go get that yummy frozen yogurt calling our names and shop 'til we drop!" Mina always knows how to cheer her up, "And yes, I'm buying and I'm so getting you new lingerie to remind you that you're both sexy and cute"

Ochako rolls her eyes, having a drawer filled with unused lingerie that Mina buys her as reminders that she's not the problem – the men she dates are. Mina's all about body positivity and women empowerment.

Maybe she'll have to consult Bakugou and get a male's perspective on what he thinks about her more scandalous underwear now that they have this special arrangement.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

If there's one luxury that makes her almost consider moving to a more modern apartment complex – it would be having her own space to do her laundry. The building that she's been living in for years now doesn't have that luxury so every other saturday, Ochako has to lug all her dirty clothes to the nearest laundromat.

It wasn't as bad as she likes to make it seem sometimes since it gave her the excuse to exercise while carrying the weight of her clothes.

Today, she was wishing she had a car but then cringes at the mental thought of how much it costs for the mandatory weeks of Japanese driving school, exams, license fee and of course buying said car. She's better off suffering on a muggy spring day while she drags her sacks of clothes.

Entering the laundromat, she gets started sorting out the delicates, the colored, the whites, and the miscellaneous fabrics. Once that was done and put into separate washers, she hops on top of the table counter. She hums a tune of her current favorite song, sucking on a minty candy in her mouth, feet dangling high above as she absentmindedly flipped through a new issue of _Plus Ultra: Monthly Pro Hero._ The magazine caters to introducing the newbie pros and this one in particular includes an exclusive interview with the now retired All Might that was the only reason why she bought it.

A gust of wind entered the hot laundromat causing Ochako to look up. She immediately freaked out and forgot all about her magazine as she dropped it down at the sight of Bakugou's scowling face and narrowed red eyes locking in on her.

"Ba-Bakugou! What a surprise!" she nervously laughs, having avoided him for some time now.

"Do you know how many fuckin' laundromats I had to search just for your dumbass?" he continues to glare at her, stalking over closer to the counter.

"O-O-Oh you-you're lo-lo-looking for m-me?" she hates how she's stuttering but she knows she's been purposely ignoring him like the black plague.

Bakugou's drenched in sweat, a sweet burnt sugar smell coming off of him. Was it due to his quirk? He's wearing a black muscle tank and camouflage patterned cargo shorts and green sneakers. Placing his hands on either side of her, he cages her into him.

She's suddenly feeling small and stupid when he speaks up.

"I've been worried as shit for you. Knowing you, you're probably feeling guilty or whatever" he sighs, part of him feeling relieved for getting that off his chest, "are we good?" his ruby stare keeps hold of her own toffee brown.

She slowly nods, feeling touched that he's been concerned for her. If there's anything she's guilty of, is not having the courage to text him right after their first time. They stay in complete silence for a few minutes after he relaxes. In the silence, Ochako gets drenched in sweat from how humid the day has been and the rusty fan in the corner of the laundromat was doing nothing to help. She's wearing a spaghetti-strap short lilac sundress that reaches her mid-thigh. By now, her simple cute dress is clinging to her body like a second layer of skin.

It was the hottest day of the month. Ochako mumbled a soft curse when she wiped at her sweaty face and her creamy liquid concealer started coming right off. He could clearly see this and didn't say a word.

Fanning herself with one hand since she dropped her magazine on the floor, and the other digs into the side pocket of her dress to pull out an elastic band – they're placed in a stand-still. He's not moving and she's breathing heavily from her rising blood pressure and their close proximity.

Ochako's chest was popped right in front of him. His eyes travel down noticing sweat droplets that would disappear right in between as her back arched. Her arms extended up as her fingers were tangled into her short brown hair that glowed a tint of reddish-orange in the sunlight. She was putting her hair up into a messy bun, holding a small dark brown elastic band right between her teeth.

He wasn't budging at all and she's in desperate need of a distraction.

Katsuki subconsciously licked his suddenly dry lips.

"Yes?" Ochako squeaks up, finishing tying the hair band and tightening the ends of her messy bun. Her face was flushed from the heat as her chest heaved rapidly from the thick humid air. She doesn't know what to say to him while he's looking at her like a refreshing popsicle.

Bakugou was in a trance as he leaned in closer to her and lightly brushed the pad of his thumb onto her slightly agape lips. Ochako's breathe hitched and held in her chest as he took her by surprise, her heart beating sporadically in her ears.

"What do you want?" his voice dipped an octave lower.

Ochako gulps. She knows she's allowed to ask him for things because they're friends but she's still settling into getting comfortable with the free-pass to having his body in any way she so desires.

She quickly tugged the straps of his shirt and pushed him closer, crashing her lips with his, causing a hearty groan out of him. She was never this impulsive and brave but something in her snapped with the hungry look in his eyes for her.

Ochako wrapped her legs around his waist, her left hand weaving through his unruly ash blond hair while her right hand wrapped around his board shoulder.

Bakugou tightly held onto her hips as she moaned at his touch. He could taste the strawberry of her lip gloss as they briefly caught their breaths for a split second. Ochako's hot minty breath fanned against his face as she took a lung full of air deep into her chest and reclaimed his lips. She begged him for entrance as he gladly obliged. He could hear her deep throaty moan as her slim fingers tugged on his hair and tried pulling him closer to her already scorched body.

Ochako was starved of physical contact, feeling insatiable despite just getting a taste of him recently. This current little predicament of Katsuki's was seriously not helping the blood rushing southbound to his lower region.

He was ready to throw her right down on the counter itself, not caring if it was public indecency or even too public of a show.

Ochako extended her neck longer giving Bakugou more space as he trailed kisses from her neck and jawline. Both her hands were swept up into his spiky hair and pushed his head closer to her skin. His nose lightly bumped against her cheek as he planted a quick peck on her cheek and found his lips to hers again as he ran his hands up and down her thighs and legs.

The red hot fire that sparked uncontrollably between them soon dimmed down to a pleasant lull. The desire still lingering but better to be enjoyed in private.

Bakugou gently left a peck on her lips, kissed both her closed eyelids and then lingered on her forehead.

Ochako almost whimpered when she felt the loss of contact. Slowly opening her eyes, she was met with hazy ruby orbs.

"Ka… Bakugou" she breathed, almost slipping and using his given name. She feels like she hasn't earned the right to use it just yet. Her cheeks were flushed even more than before, lips kiss-swollen, her clothes were clinging onto her more in a wrinkled mess, and heart pulsing a thousand-beats-per-minute.

"I want you" she feels herself throbbing from the loss of contact. Finally, she's fully accepting that it's okay to ask him for help. If it's really okay with him then it's okay with her. No more guilt or second-guessing that they've stumbled into an unorthodox friendship.

"How do you want me?" the pad of his thumb runs along her glossy pink lips. The taste of the faint strawberry flavor still lingering on his own lips.

"Can… I… umm…" she twiddles her thumbs, keeping her pinkies apart to not accidentally activate her quirk on herself, "ride you?" she whispers the last part.

Bakugou chuckles liking the fact that she's slowly coming out of her shy shell and starting to get bold with her bedroom requests. "Hell yes" he tells her, patiently waiting for her to finish her laundry.

Ochako needs to get in control of herself and not embarrass herself with jumping in joy that their second time was literally just right around the corner. She absolutely refused him when he offered to carry her stuff and walk her to her neighborhood.

She didn't want him teasing her for living around the red-light district with its overpriced entertainment and shady locations where anything could be put into your drink. His motorcycle wouldn't have been able to carry all her loads of clothes either.

They agreed that they'd freshen up and meet up later.

 _ **From: Ura-Cutie**_

 _ **I'm here with Ei and we're both rooting for you while playing beer pong!**_

 _ **To: Pinky Alien Queen**_

 _ **You guys are worse than my own parents!**_

 _ **From: Ura-Cutie**_

 _ **You know you love us!**_

Ochako shakes her head, giggling at the texts. Yes, she loves her friends – her number one cheerleaders when it comes to her love life.

She showers, takes extra care to pamper herself, puts on her favorite magenta lipstick and decides to wear one of her sexy pink lingerie, and makes her way over to Bakugou's place.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Is it just me or is it suddenly hot in here? Uhuhuhu.

Next Time: Strike Three

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	8. Strike Three

AN: Gufufufufu I did say this story would be T+.

That spicy laundry scene from the previous chap? I recycled that scene I had originally written for another fandom and just slightly tweaked it to fit Kacchako. I'll most likely reuse other spicy scenes I like from other fandoms fics I've written and include it in this one~ I'm collecting all my past spice for this giant pot of curry. LOL.

After writing and continuing to improve on this site for _years_ , I feel like I've mastered _some_ sense of seductive trolling. (Forgive me for not being able to fully provide a deliciously sinful M. I just don't feel like I could provide a good enough ~le sexy times~ _scene_.)

And to answer a few reviews that amused me: 1. YES. I stumbled upon nitroglycerin smelling like burnt sugar on Tumblr and now its buried under a bunch of likes. Haha. I also looked it up and it's legit. And of course, you know what burnt sugar is? CARAMEL! This spicy tsundere boi smells like freakin' sweet caramel. I've always had the headcanon of Bakugou smelling like a mix of cinnamon and gasoline (so I wasn't super off the mark there, whoo!) but I'll definitely incorporate more of the caramel aspect!

2\. Why Katsuki was searching for Ochako? You'll just have to wait and read to find out in this long flashback~

Happy reading~ :D

Strike Three

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

 _Katsuki would like to think he's not a complete asshole all the time._

 _Yeah, idiots frustrate and piss him off on a daily basis._

 _Yeah, he's grown out of telling people to 'die' while doing heroic acts which contradict his words._

 _Yeah, he's blunt, doesn't care what strangers think of him, and seems impulsively reckless._

 _But he's not stupid._

 _His heart's not made of ice._

 _While he may not have the largest group of friends despite being one of the popular kids all through his school years – what little he does have mean something to him. He'd never admit it out loud but they just knew. So, if he didn't need to say it then he wouldn't bother to. In the years that he's switched career paths from pro hero to firefighter, he's reflected a lot on himself and how he'd want to be perceived by others._

 _His raw strength, reflexes, overconfidence and sense of self were one thing but that genuine desire to reconnect to those closest to him, act like a real friend, and show his gratitude was another._

 _With his recent 'no strings attached' friends with benefits agreement with his former classmate, he wanted to do things the right way. He wasn't going to treat her like all his other experiences with hook ups. While he wasn't a total gentleman, he'd never purposely hurt someone that means something to him._

 _He and Ochako have some sense of history with each other. All those limited moments have been tame, distant at times but always mutual respect of each other's inner strength._

 _Sparring with each other, their first year's sports festival match that had made both acknowledge each other, Katsuki getting riled up and prideful over his cooking skills when she had been impressed by his knife skills, that one time Ochako studied his behavior calling him out for his vulnerabilities he feels when compared to Izuku's side that completely shut him up unable to yell at her for getting into his head, then there's that one rare time that he felt for her and gave her a shoulder to cry on knowing that while he hadn't lost anyone during his internships, he knew how shitty it was to feel weak with his own kidnapped/hostage situations that his dumb luck tend to place him in._

 _All of their experiences mainly stemmed from their first year at the academy. After that, it dwindled down to being paired for group projects but rarely speaking to each other unless she was desperate to have a tutor. His overly inflated ego had charged her for his time being 'wasted' on trying to help her get a better grade. Of course, he felt like a major jerk right after he learned that she was paying him with what little money she had to live off of._

 _He wasn't about to apologize for being insensitive but she had gotten the upper hand on him when they got a long-awaited rematch their second year in where Ochako totally kicked his ass. She was covered in dirt, scratched to the bone, panting heavily with the widest angelic smile he's ever seen of pure victory on her lips and she had won fair and square. He remembers playing off that his own injuries were no big deal, not 'caring' that she had bested him. Sneakily having to go see Recovery Girl once he got eliminated from advancing further. His own hands twitched, involuntarily spasming as he felt the strain of abusing his own quirk. He had limits but was ignoring them in order to keep up with the meteor shower of debris that came crashing down on him. She had used the same reckless plan from their first year but had modified it to fit her newfound endurance._

 _In their third year of high school, they had even less interaction with focusing on graduating and aiming for their set career paths as pro heroes._

 _He and Ochako have some sense of history with each other. They've never been close classmates but they knew each other well enough to feel comfortable around each other. She didn't drive him nuts like Mina does – his first close female friend that drilled her way into his guarded heart. No, Ochako drives him nuts in a different way such as not texting him after he agreed to have sex with her. While they're slowly coming around to reacquainting themselves as real friends, he's already gotten to know her in a biblical sense of 'closeness.'_

 _Was it so wrong of him to make sure that she's okay after their first time? He knows how she is. Kind, bubbly, selfless Ochako would be second-guessing what they've done thinking that he was troubled by it when he… wasn't?_

 _He deeply sighs, processing his own thoughts._

 _Feeling torn between feeling stupid himself for quickly agreeing to this arrangement and for partially believing that he just might be 'cursed' after all because despite all the bullshit he might spout about not having time for romance – it's not like he's never thought of it. There'll come a time when he looks at himself and will feel like he's mastered all trades except for one: real genuine wholesome love._

 _Katsuki throws his lug wrench to the side, having finished tightening the new bolts he replaced on his motorcycles rims. It's still spring which has been a nice, cool season but for whatever reason – mother nature just decided to laugh in their faces. It was sweltering hot, humid, and gross out causing his mood to sour even more than it was already with having to fix the air pressure in his back tire and make sure his rims were okay._

 _Heat from his own quirk's explosions were more of a comfort than a pain as he got older. Heat from fires on the job he can tolerate no problem. But heat from the weather itself was beyond the worst in his eyes. Sure, he relies on sweating in order to get a potent surge of power for his quirk but if the earth could take it down a notch months before summer officially starts – that'd be great._

 _While working outside in his apartment complex's unbelievably hot parking garage, he had his heavy metal rock music blasting throughout the echoey place on a portable speaker. Not caring if he was disturbing the peace, he raised the volume one more level on his phone's screen. Wanting to drown out the sweet feminine moans that have been haunting his every dream. He can still feel her hungrily clawing at his drenched skin, desperate for that release that he was foolishly offering her. He can still feel the sensation of his own actions, tongue sliding up and down her throat, nipping at her neck and ears. His dull fingernails digging into her hip bones, pressing their bodies as close as humanly possible._

 _Was he too rough for their first time together? Did he satisfy her in the way she so yearned for? He has yet to have a woman complain about his skills in bed but… she's special? It's Ochako, he reminds himself._

" _Shit… I need to know" he annoyedly mutters under his breath. The nagging little voice in his head making him feel like he's the one suddenly second-guessing everything._

 _He cleans up his mess in the parking garage and rides off to go find the only other person that can help him locate that damn Round Face when Eijirou was taking too long for his liking to reply to his text._

 _Katsuki arrives in Kichijoji an hour later not knowing whether that damn nerd would even be home or not. Izuku had emailed him a month prior to his arrival, letting him know that he was back for good. He of course didn't say anything cheesy like 'welcome back' or something. The only reply he had attached was, 'okay.'_

 _Making his way to a quaint little modern apartment complex, he tries to remember which one is his childhood friend's place. He starts off knocking normally for a few seconds but when that didn't bring out Izuku as fast as he would've liked – he began pounding on the door._

" _Coming! Sorry, for the wai– KACCHAN?!" Izuku opened the door, emerald green eyes blowing wide. He certainly wasn't expecting to get a surprise visit from the temperamental blond._

" _Oi, do you know where the fuck I can find Round Face?" Katsuki tries to keep his annoyance in check by not calling him Deku._

 _Izuku's features relax, crossing his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorframe. "Wooooow, thanks so much for worrying about me. It's not like I've been gone for half a year or anything" he sarcastically drips giving him a look._

 _Katsuki rolls his eyes, shoving past him to enter his apartment. "You were gone for six months, chill the fuck out. I would've rolled out the red carpet and brought the damn champagne if you were gone for longer" he tells him, getting comfortable on Izuku's couch._

 _Izuku shakes his head, shrugging his shoulders. It was worth a try but some thing's won't ever change. "Nice to see that you're still the same, Kacchan" he goes to his kitchen to take out two bottles of water._

 _Throwing one to Katsuki, he effortlessly catches it in mid-air. "Why the hell would I change? I love being me"_

 _Izuku can't help but laugh, "a workaholic who's still a hero in his own right"_

 _Katsuki smugly pounds a fist to his chest, "damn right"_

" _So why are you looking for Ochako?"_

" _That's none of your damn business"_

 _Izuku sighs, "I know about your little agreement, Kacchan"_

 _Katsuki shrugs his shoulders in a 'so?' manner not caring if it was Izuku because he was no threat to him. If there's two people who really know the Katsuki Bakugou – it would be Izuku and Eijirou. They both weren't objecting to the fact that he's been helping Ochako with such an intimate request because they've known him for years. He was an asshole to the rest of the world but never to his own friends._

 _Unscrewing the cap of the water bottle, he tilts the bottle down to take a sip when he hears Izuku hesitantly speak up again. "Why were you so quick to agree?" he asks._

 _Katsuki visibly stiffens, feeling the lit embers in his soul spark. He mentally stomps on the small spark in the pit of his stomach before it could grow into a full flame. The water wets his suddenly dry lips as he gulps, trying to seem unaffected by the curious question. "Sexual gratification" he simply replies, refusing to elaborate further._

 _Izuku keeps his gaze on him, knowing him. Knowing that he's lying. Knowing that he's hiding something. Knowing that he's too stupid and prideful to admit his own denial. "I see" he drops the subject, not wanting to get Katsuki pissed off if he calls him a dumbass. He knows there's an attraction there._

 _Katsuki is attracted to strong females that don't take any shit from anyone. Someone who doesn't wait to be catered for. Someone who doesn't cry just for show. Someone who isn't whiney when they don't get their way. The list could go on and on. Izuku knows all of this – his friend desires someone who can kick his ass, keeping him in line but also filled with so much love to give, kind hearted, selfless, and ever so sweet who compliments his own burning spice._

" _She texted me earlier about heading over to the laundromat but I don't know which one" Izuku gestures for Katsuki to let him use his phone. Opening Katsuki's notes app, he makes a list of all the nearby laundromats in the Shinjuku area that would be closer to where Ochako lives knowing that she wouldn't have gone to another area of the city with all her loads of clothes._

 _Katsuki briefly thanks him for the information and sets off._

 _He's drenched in sweat by the time he finally reaches the right place. He could see her through the glass window, she was distracted by a magazine. Kicking his bike's stand, he parked right outside and storms into the laundromat. A gust of hot wind blows in his face as the little bell dings that someone has entered._

 _He watches as Ochako looks up from her magazine. Her eyes widening in record time, dropping the magazine to the floor when she freaked out at the sight of him. He ignores everything around them, face scowling and ruby red eyes narrowing as they lock onto her._

" _Ba-Bakugou! What a surprise!" he hears her nervously laugh, knowing she's guilty of avoiding him for some time now._

" _Do you know how many fuckin' laundromats I had to search just for your dumbass?" he continues to glare at her, stalking over closer to the counter. Seven! He had to track her down in seven different places that weren't exactly close to each other._

" _O-O-Oh you-you're lo-lo-looking for m-me?" she stutters._

 _He continues giving her a hard look, drenched even more in sweat with every second he's in this boiling small place. An all too familiar_ _sweet burnt sugar smell coming off of him from his quirk._

 _Later that night, as he's submissive under her bold request, allowing her to have him in any way she so desired – he feels the embers popping off like tiny detonating exploding stars in a conflicted galaxy that's all him._

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Izuku hears his doorbell going off while he was busy in the kitchen washing dishes having put it off in the morning being too lazy to. "Coming!" he calls out, drying the last plate to set in the drying rack.

Quickly wiping his hands on a kitchen towel placed on the stove's handle, he makes his way towards the front entrance. He wasn't expecting anymore deliveries from the movers that helped him with the few things he kept in storage at his mom's place and if it was Katsuki again then he'll gladly help the idiot out.

"Coming!" he says closer to the door now when he hears a second ring.

"I sure hope so" he hears that all too familiar monotone voice he's missed so much. There's a rare genuine smirk playing at his lips as he patiently waits for Izuku's initial shock to calm down.

"Shouto!" Izuku's brain finally connects the dots not knowing when exactly he'd be home. The last email that Shouto had sent due to time differences was to inform him of his arrival within a week or two but never stating a specific date.

"I've missed you!" Izuku cries, tightly wrapping his arms around him.

Shouto can't return the embrace as he wishes to in fear of dropping his duffle bag on Izuku's feet. He kisses the top of his head with a small hum, "it's been too long"

Izuku hurriedly ushers him into their new place, taking his luggage and carry-on bags to their new bedroom saying how he hopes that he likes the place since they had only seen it online before deciding that it was perfect for them. Since Izuku would be arriving in Japan earlier than he, Shouto left the decision entirely up to him, reassuring him that he'd be happy with anything as long as they're together.

The couple knew that they wanted to remain in the Tokyo area but not in the direct hustle and bustle so they chose a nice quiet residential area where they could find a moment's peace from their hectic lives as active pro heroes.

"Are you hungry? Are you tired? Do you want to shower? Do you need help unpacking?" Izuku begins his thoughtful worrying over his comfort level.

Shouto knows he's definitely missed this about him. "Izuku"

"Hm?" he pauses his rapid fire twenty-questions to look up at him.

Shouto caresses his cheek, savoring the feeling of his soft skin. The pad of his thumb gently brushes over Izuku's parted lips. "I just want you" he tells him, feeling like he'll impulsively throw him on the bed if his lover doesn't stop acting like he doesn't want this too.

"Sho… Shouto" Izuku's green eyes wash over with his secret desire. This is the longest that they've been apart having no time to celebrate their newly declared engaged status.

Shouto leans down to press his lips against Izuku's in a loving embrace getting acquainted with his touch again. The momentum rapidly picked up when he felt Izuku's tongue prying his mouth open.

The next second, they sloppily fall into bed. Izuku lying on his back as Shouto straddles him, tongues clashing as teeth pulled. Exploring one another – sucking, moaning, as heavy pants filled the room. Large icy-hot gentle hands gripped on a lean muscular waist, trying to pull their bodies closer if possible.

"S-S-Shouto…!" a breathy moan escapes breathless lips.

Heterochromia colored eyes swirled with desire focusing on a flushed face. "Izuku…" he whispers as he licks down a long creamy neck and bites down, sucking on the reddened skin.

Izuku closes his eyes as he tries not to moan too loudly. It's still the middle of the day and while not being thin, their walls still echoed with all their empty unfilled space. Shouto pulls the neck of his shirt to take it off as his fiancé lustfully licks his lips. Once freed, his hands reached underneath the hem of Izuku's shirt, leaning down to pepper his hot skin with kisses as he torturously pulls the shirt up little by little.

Both shirtless, Izuku begins to grind against Shouto's clothed lower half wanting him to hurry up and unbuckle his jeans.

A loud groan escapes Shouto's lips, anticipating this for months now. They were constantly being pulled left and right for events, conferences, and tv broadcasted interviews that they were barely given any time to spend alone. And since they worked for different hero agencies, all those rare moments where they snuck into each other's hotel rooms ended with cuddling and knocking out, exhausted from their crazy work schedules. He got tired of this same routine, boldly deciding to propose to _his_ Izuku the second they stepped on Parisian soil. If anything, Shouto was going to make damn sure he proposed in the most romantic place known to man – right under the Eiffel Tower.

Izuku was about to take matters into his own hands, reaching for his fiancé's belt when he hears another urgent knock coming from the front entrance. Of all times to be disturbed.

Shouto sighed as his head fell, resting on Izuku's shoulder.

"Sorry…" Izuku frowns, "we'll finish this later"

Shouto nods, pecking his shoulder, "you should go answer the door, I'll go take a quick shower"

Izuku looked down clearly seeing the growing arousal on both of them. Disappointed, he gets off the bed and fetches his shirt off the floor.

He takes a few seconds to recompose himself, standing right in front of the door, trying his best to not let his annoyance peek out. Putting a bright smile on his face, he twists the doorknob to greet whomever had so rudely interrupted his reunion with his fiancé.

"Hi… Bun-Bun" Ochako meekly waves her hand.

Izuku is starting to wonder if his friends have forgotten how simple it is to send him a text in their technological driven era to let him know ahead of time about things but of course he could never get mad at her.

He moves to the side allowing her inside his apartment.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"I'm starting to get scared of Bakugou's 'curse'" she begins, taking off her shoes and placing them at the entrance.

"Huh? Why? I thought that's the whole purpose of you two sleeping together?" now he's feeling confused about what their agreement entails.

Ochako nods, pacing around his carpeted floor, "oh yeah, of course it is"

"So, why's it scaring you?" he asks while heading over to his kitchen to rummage through his pantry for the matcha tea powder. He takes a spoonful adding it into the filled kettle to heat up on the stove.

She walks over to the island counter, leaning against it as she crosses her arms on top of the table, "we…" she deeply blushes from the fresh memories, "did it last night and I kid you not" she shakes her head in shock, "I bumped into two guys this morning! One at the local gym I go to for my daily yoga and one at the outdoor marketplace"

"Oh? That's great!" Izuku still doesn't know if he's said the right thing, "It's great, isn't it?"

Ochako slowly nods again, "yeah, I mean this is exactly what I wanted but… I wasn't expecting it to happen so fast? Bakugou and I have barely done it and it feels like soon enough I won't be needing his help"

He's quick to catch onto her disappointment knowing she's in the same boat as Katsuki. Both his friends were in denial and he could almost cry with how frustrating it was to see them dancing around the rim. Izuku knows that both would tell him that he's reading into things and hide behind the excuse that they're just friends helping each other out. He knows that while it's not deeply rooted as say his own relationship with either individuals involved – Ochako and Katsuki do have some form of history together.

He pries a bit. "Isn't this better? You find a boyfriend of your liking and Kacchan can go back to fully focusing on his workaholic lifestyle?"

Ochako tries not to frown, knowing that once their deal is done – she won't be able to hang out with Bakugou as often with having a boyfriend and him never having any free time.

Izuku can see her internal struggle at the thought but she shakes her head, "we'll always be friends and I'll always be grateful for his help…" she's starting to sound like a broken record even to herself, "let's just hope that one of these dates will be fruitful" she remains optimistic, shoving all thoughts of losing Bakugou as far away from her thoughts… and possibly her heart.

"So, who're the lucky guys that managed to snag a date with my Ochako?" Izuku asks while turning off the stove and getting two mugs for their tea.

"Well…" she momentarily closes her eyes, bracing herself to reply and hopefully not get weird judgy looks from him.

"Neito Monoma and Romero Fujimi from Isamu High" she bites her lower lip, expecting him to yowl in pain from pouring hot green tea over his hand.

His pain never came but she did hear him almost break a mug, "Monoma from class B and that one zombie quirked guy from that special training camp we had our first year?"

Ochako nervously shrugs, "they're not exactly my type but I'm not about to let any of Bakugou's 'curse' go to waste"

"You know you're allowed to deny a date, right? It won't make you seem like a picky jerk for doing so" he reminds her, setting a steaming cup of tea in front of her.

She thanks him, "yeah I know but it beats being home alone eating frozen dinners while watching something on my laptop"

Izuku sighs knowing that she's always been cheap when it comes to spoiling herself. What money she wasn't sending to her parents to help them out went straight into her rent, utilities, laundry and transportation expenses. She rarely buys fresh ingredients to cook at home and even if old clothes like shirts that once fit her fine, now fit like crop tops – she still refuses to treat herself unless it's absolutely necessary or there's a huge sale.

Before he could say anything about her choices or the fact that it makes him a bit sad that he doesn't live closer so she could have dinner at his place – he hears and sees a shirtless Shouto walking down the hall.

"Oh, hello Ochako" he greets while rubbing at his damp two-toned hair.

"Shouto! You're back!" she gasps, immediately going to hug him.

"Forgive me for not wearing a shirt, I just got out of the shower" he politely apologizes.

Shaking her head, she smiles and tells him that it's fine. She tells him that she's happy that he's finally back in Japan and how she hopes that they'll be able to spend time together again as a trio.

He tells her that he'd like that very much as he goes to give Izuku a kiss on the cheek.

She warmly smiles at the sweet gesture, congratulating the two on their engagement, seeing that fond look of utter love in Izuku's eyes.

Ochako feels a pang of jealousy that she buries deep inside of her. She mentally reminds herself that someday she'll have her very own special someone who'll shower her in love, only having eyes for her but today was not that day and she highly doubts it'll happen with her two upcoming dates.

Excusing herself, she hugs Izuku thanking him for always lending an ear to her life's drama and left.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Wow, growing up sure has done you good" Neito laughs waving his hand up and down her form, "who would've thought that you'd agree to go on a date with me, it's almost like two star-crossed lovers!" he grins, "Class A and B students who rarely interacted while in high school"

Ochako can't tell if he was trying to compliment her short sleeved yellow skater dress because as far as growing up – she's still the same petite sized girl she's always been. Her chest hasn't grown and neither has her height. The only difference was that she's gained a bit more muscle mass and lost some of her chub but she'll always be chubby in parts of her body like her tummy and thighs. He confused her by that and then by the way he switched over to how they're practically strangers but they're definitely not like two star-crossed lovers just because they were placed in separate classes of the same course of study.

She only agreed to having a late lunch with him because he was persistent in them catching up despite never talking to each other. He was always too busy feeling inferior to her class, never letting them forget how class A attracted danger wherever they went which was apparently such an inconvenience in his eyes. His pettiness stopped him from socializing with the rest of the hero course group. He was far more focused on mocking them rather than seeing how he could improve upon his own copying quirk.

Instead of asking her about herself such as what she's been up to since they've graduated or what she's doing now – he opted to gushing about himself and how he's still a hero. Never really aiming for the top, he's content in still being ranked amongst the side-kick category for some small-time hero agency that she knew in her professional opinion would never help him reach pro status if he stayed there.

He didn't look like he cared much so she didn't waste her breath in trying to advise him to find a better agency to work for.

"So… I hear that Midoriya is still a hero but Bakugou temporarily retired?" he begins with a snort, "I always knew that, that kidnapped psycho would never amount to full-fledged pro hero" Neito turned the tables, discussing yet again her class instead of remembering that this was technically a date and not just a moment to catch up.

Her hands clench under the tablecloth, trying to remain a pacifist at his words.

"Seriously, a pro hero that has a record of getting kidnapped by the villains? It's hilarious"

"It's not like he asked to be kidnapped or held hostage by villains, Monoma"

"Bakugou parades around showing off his volatile quirk like he owns the damn place. No wonder the villains wanted to convert him" he laughed, "or worse, end it"

Ochako can't take a second of him bad-mouthing her friend. Her fingertips flow with energy, feeling the table shake under her touch, "he may have retired from being a pro but he's still a respectable hero" she tries saying anything to get Monoma to shut up about the top two students who everyone looked up to in the hero course but he was mainly focused on speaking ill of Bakugou.

"I've seen him around, riding in the back of the firetrucks. Him a firefighter?" he shakes his head in disbelief, "one single drop of his nitroglycerin-like sweat in a burning building? Hello backdraft and collapsed building. Goodbye innocent people that would've been better off saved by a water based quirked hero"

That did it.

Ochako snapped, getting up from her seat. She took the pitcher of ice cold water right as their table went flying across, hitting an empty table but still startling the people around them. She splashed the filled pitcher on Neito's unsuspecting face. He didn't see that he had pushed her buttons.

"How dare you! Heroes aren't just those like you, wearing flashy costumes just to prove that they're good. Heroes are those who save others no matter the circumstance, risking their lives for others! Yeah, sure, we live in a hero society but those in uniform deserve just as much as the recognition as pros and side-kicks get!" she's fuming, breath ragged as she points at him, "Katsuki knows that his quirk is dangerously powerful. He's not stupid! He may not be the Ground Zero that was once highly praised on tv with placing within the top ten on the monthly hero rankings but he's still out there busting his ass in order to save countless of innocent people from fire based quirks! What better person to become a fireman than one who knows exactly how fire functions!" she's had enough of this date, "I really thought you've changed since high school but you're still that mocking arrogant asshole. Exactly the type of man that I absolutely can't stand!" she yells, storming right out of the café they were in.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako doesn't even want to remember her failed date with Romero Fujimi that happened a few days after she blew up on Monoma. Fujimi was a slouched, unkempt undead-looking man who hasn't slept in months. Fitting for his zombie virus quirk but he was loud and brash, stating all the things he hates. He was the macho type that wanted to order her food for her, telling her that it'd do her good to lose her comfortable amount of tummy chub.

He didn't even let her order dessert! She couldn't stand his attitude thinking that maybe he'd be different but if people thought Bakugou was a 'bad' guy then Fujimi took the whole cake there.

She refused the salad he had ordered for her, kindly telling the waiter to bring her an additional plate of food, this time of her liking and doubled the order just because she could. She also ordered a nice slice of triple chocolate cake coated in dripping ganache frosting to spite him. Once her order was placed, she politely asked for it all to be packed up and paid in advance and when it arrived – she simply left the zombie quirked man fuming in his seat for cutting the date short.

He might've called her a bitch while she walked out with a smug look on her face but she didn't care. Instead she made her way towards Bakugou's place. After the hellish week she had, she was hoping that he'd offer her some company not wanting to go home early just yet.

Her lips still tingled from having used his given name days ago when dealing with Monoma. She's still too shy to actually call him by his name in front of his face but she found herself liking the way 'Katsuki' rolled off her tongue. She softly knocked on his door and greeted him when he opened up.

"Want dinner?" she lifts up her two bags, still hot from her power-walk to his place.

He's wearing a black tank top and grey sweatpants, leaning against his door with an amused look. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

Ochako giggles, letting herself in, "me trying to seduce my dear friend, Bakugou?" she hands him the bags of food in order to take off her shoes at the entrance, "I would never!"

"At least you're sparing me from your shitty cooking" he counters, walking over to his kitchen to get plates.

She rolls her eyes, remembering how she ruined his pancake batter when she offered to help make breakfast after their second time together. Something inside her stirs, vividly being reminded of the way he handles her in bed. Shaking the thoughts away, she tells herself that this was just a hang out. No sleeping together or anything would happen tonight even though she knew she could use more of his 'curse' to hopefully bring her a date that doesn't suck for once.

Katsuki unboxes the food and sees the giant slice of chocolate cake. "Please tell me this isn't some advanced birthday gift or whatever"

She tilts her head, filing through her memory of their classmates' birthdays when it clicks. "Oh! No! I just bought that to spite my date" she turns away, covering her blush.

Damn, how could she forget that his birthday was coming up? But then again, it's not like they even discussed if he'd want her to do something for him on that day. From what she can remember of him and all the times they tried throwing him a surprise birthday party in the common area of their co-ed dorms at the academy – he wasn't big on parties nor his birthday ranting on and on how it was just any other day. It wasn't a special milestone in his life like his excellent school grades and high marks on combat tests, etc.

"Shit, what the hell did the loser do?" he's curious for once.

Ever since they started this, he flat out told her that he didn't care about her dates so not to bother even giving him details on them. She skips out on telling him about Monoma and just tells him what Fujimi did because that's what he was asking about.

He scoffs when she tells him how her date was basically calling her fat. "You're fine the way you are, Pink Cheeks." he tells her while serving them food, "A man who can't handle a little meat on his woman's bones is a weak little bitch" he places the food in front of her.

He's never been the superficial type to care for looks. He cares about what's inside a person, deep down passing all the things that society tells you aren't as important. And he knows for sure that Ochako looks damn good.

She's petite, has a voluptuous chest that's perfect in his eyes, and certainly isn't a skinny little twig. She's got strong muscles that have taken him down before during sparring with natural chub that makes her soft to the touch. What more did these dipshits want from her? If it's not her body then her personality was another thing he could comment on.

She thanks him for his blunt compliment, enjoying his company a hundred times more than her dates. She would've loved to tell him how she made a scene by throwing a table with her quirk and dumped a pitcher of water on her date's face but then she'd have to say who said date was and didn't want to start blushing at the fact that she was protecting his good name.

Bakugou was a lot of things but he's never been mean to her.

They're now sitting on his couch while sharing the chocolate cake. "Would you have gotten mad at me for celebrating your birthday?" she asks out of the blue.

Red eyes narrow for a split second, "no, but I'm not the biggest fan of celebrating shit that happens every day to everyone"

Ochako rolls her eyes, lightly shoving his shoulder, "c'mon, don't be like that, it's not every day that _you_ turn older"

"Yeah because turning twenty-six is such a big fucking deal. Big whoop" he rolls his own eyes, being dead set on acting negative over someone making a fuss about him. He doesn't need gifts and a cake to feel special when he shares his birthday with millions of others who just so happened to be born on the same day. Those assholes.

"If I could gift you something before your birthday…" she hypothetically begins, hands sticky from the chocolate frosting of the cake as she fumbles, "what would you want?"

He studies the frosting on her fingertips, halfway into eating the cake with a fork, she ditched it to scoop the frosting with her fingers and somehow managed to smear a small bit on the corner of her lips.

"Birthday sex"

She nearly chokes on her soft moan from the delicious taste of the frosting she's eating, "birthday sex?"

He gently takes the plate from her hands before she drops it on his wooden floors. Placing it on his coffee table, he gives her a serious look, leaning over to brush the pad of his thumb on the corner of her lip.

Katsuki swipes at the missed chocolate frosting and licks it away, "yeah, that's what I said" he says, watching her gulp, "I'll even show you one of my kinks"

She can't form any words through her tight feeling throat. Quickly, she closes the gap between them, crashing her lips against Bakugou's. Knocking the wind out of him, Katsuki's back hits the cushioned couch as his head hits the arm rest with a thud as a long, surprised moan escaped his lips.

"Angel Face..." Katsuki moaned, lost in his swirling emotions at the sight of her wanton desires.

Ochako straddled him as she gripped tightly on the cotton fabric of Bakugou's shirt, feeling the hard planes of muscles underneath. She can feel him starting to react to her bold actions.

She lets out a strangled whimper as he shifts their positions, hands gripping her hips as he slightly rises. His lips attack burning hot flesh, trying to desperately savor this alone time with her. He knows that she's giving into his request. Ochako's hands start to roam over his clothed self as one hand falls lower and grips onto the two strings of Bakugou's sweatpants.

Tugging on the strings, it slowly loosens as Ochako starts to visibly see his red boxers. Her lips pressed hungrily against Bakugou's throat as she bites down _hard_.

Katsuki loudly groans as Ochako gently licks the reddened skin. Her shaky hands slowly slide under his boxers when he gently takes her by the wrist. "Bedroom" he tells her, knowing that they'd be uncomfortable on the couch. She nods, letting him cup her ass as he sits up and carries her. He tries to concentrate when he enters his kitchen, knocking her back against the right door of his pantry. Pulling out a bottle of chocolate syrup, he makes his way all the way down the hall to the master bedroom.

She's sprawled out on his bed looking inviting, impatiently waiting for him to show her one of his bedroom kinks. He feels those same nagging embers erupting off inside him. Ignoring them yet again, he fervently kisses her, feeling like they're beyond polite honorifics by now.

"Say my name" he begs, trailing hot kisses along her jawline.

She arches her back, wanting _all_ of him. "Kaaa… Katsuki…"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Omg. Longest chapter thus far. This may or may not be a rare occurrence later on. X_X;

Aye, I'm happy with the slight steamy TodoDeku in this chap~ I really should write a one-shot for them…

Ochako and Katsuki have been officially declared giant dummies by Izuku. Haha.

Next Time: You're Out

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	9. You're Out

AN: Aww, thank you so much for the continued support! At first I was really struggling to find date-worthy candidates for Ochako especially one in particular… Ohohoho. But Horikoshi-sensei provides a plethora of (male) students from U.A. and other school~ Bless.

Happy reading~ :D

You're Out

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako has always loved children.

Having spent countless hours in Musutafu General Hospital due to Izuku being unable to control his quirk when she had first befriended him in high school. She was always the first person to volunteer to spend the night with him in the strongly sterilized, depressing hospital room that only had white-noise as comfort.

She filled his room with her bright and bubbly optimism, lightly lecturing him about constantly worrying her to no end. He'd nervously scratch the back of his head and laugh, asking for forgiveness knowing that he didn't mean to get hurt but it was difficult at times when his impulsive drive to save others would kick in. It had gotten even worse once they had officially earned their provisional hero licenses.

By that time, Ochako had already familiarized herself with the staff of the hospital, even offering to lend a hand from time to time. Her favorite place to be placed in was amongst the children's ward. Being an only child, she's never gotten to care for another nor having someone to care for her. Her parents had suffered more than enough with just trying to get pregnant with her and they weren't the most financially stable family to afford an added family member.

She savored every moment spent with the little ones; reading books to them, handing out snacks, and held them tightly within her chest, always keeping their positive little lights glowing within them when times got rough and they cried over missing their families and being stuck in the hospital for long periods of time.

She loved them as they loved her.

The day that Izuku stopped being a frequent patient at the hospital was the day that Ochako broke down and cried in his arms. He knew that she had grown to love the place just as he loved her for being not only his hero but a hero to the little ones whose lives she's affected in such a positive way.

Knowing that she could never selfishly ask her aging parents for a younger sibling, she vowed that someday when she's found love – she'd be the best mother she could be for her own child, showering them with her unconditional love.

And now here she is – twenty-four, single as a cactus in the desert, with the worst luck in the universe but at least she's gathered around her female friends that she doesn't often get to see. The day arrived for Itsuka's baby shower and the entire small apartment is filled to the brim with flowing estrogen.

The only males in the room were Tetsutetsu and Eijirou. Both having a beer while grilling meat on the balcony as far away from the gushing women crowding the living room.

Ochako's heart melts every time Itsuka pulls out tiny little baby clothes from the many gift bags surrounding her friend's swollen feet. She can picture herself with a belly full of a product of her love. Despite the back pain, the mood swings, and waddling – she feels a tug at her heart at just the thought.

Whenever she'd get depressed over being single, her mind would wander into dangerous territories. If no man loved her then she could pour all her endless love into a child. Not caring for the fact that she'd have to pay for a sperm donor or the fact that she'd break her own mother's heart. Times like that, she'd think long and hard about having the courage to go through with that plan instead but then she'd retract and rethink things through. A child would need a proper home, not the dingy crappy apartment that she's been living in for years. The cost alone made her not go through with it in the end and deep down she's happy she hasn't caved.

She's only human. She wants to experience it _all_.

Love's her main goal and if a child naturally blossomed from that pure love she desperately longs for then that'd be her happily ever after.

Being pulled out of her bittersweet thoughts by someone nudging their elbow into her side, she looks down to her side to see a pink arm nudging her.

Mina leans over to whisper into her friend's ear, "bet you can imagine a blond, brown eyed little prince running around, eh?"

Ochako's eyes slowly widened at her words. Ever since Mina was informed about hers and Bakugou's arrangement – the girly mischievous acid quirked young woman was adamant that Ochako should try getting pregnant by the feisty blond.

She'd remind Mina like a broken record that it was morally wrong to trick Bakugou like that. Making sure that she'd always take her birth control and that they'd always use condoms. There's no way that she'll ever hurt her friend like that no matter how much Mina's constant gushing over seeing Ochako pregnant with a baby boy would be the cutest thing on earth. If she's being honest, she would love to have two kids in the future and Mina gushing about seeing her first-born being a boy wasn't helping those tempting lurking thoughts that swim in her head from time to time.

It only caused her to furiously blush and hate how she'd laugh when Mina would scrunch up her nose and pretend that Bakugou fathering a child would be the ending days of her and Eijirou finally stopping their open relationship.

Ochako would love to see her friends finally settle down and stop denying that they were as close to soulmates as soulmates get. But they didn't need her to be the one to make them crack.

She's still young and has plenty of time to become a mother.

First, she just wants a lasting relationship.

She's not asking for extreme signs of devotion to her nor the official commit of marriage.

Just a boyfriend.

"Mina…" Ochako softly groans, not wanting to get into this topic with her right now.

"Katsuki's loaded so you won't have to worry about child support" she winks.

Ochako rolls her eyes, "I don't need a sugar daddy, thank you very much"

"At least keep sleeping with him until he puts you as his beneficiary on his will in case he dies in a fire" she grins and Ochako nearly loudly groans this time.

She already refuses to tell her about how Bakugou is in bed, wanting to keep those details locked up for a rainy day. Tolerating her endless teasing would just have to go into her daily mental exercises of enduring and suffering due to her friends.

"Aww thank you so much Ochako for the bath set and the nighttime book!" Itsuka pulled out the gift and showed it to the group. All the women awed, especially at the book she chose that was entirely in hiragana. They commented on remembering having read the same book when they were little, sharing stories of their own mothers helping them to read it.

Ochako had grown up in the countryside with nothing but piles upon piles of books to keep her entertained and since her parent's construction company had been doing well up until she was ten-years-old – she had gotten to spend a lot of quality time with them. Her family's shared love for literature was instilled on her at a very young age and was happy to know that her choice of book was apparently just as popular in the big city as it was in the countryside. After all, books were universal and when she was gift shopping and her eyes locked onto the nostalgic book – she knew she just had to get it.

"Open mine next!" Mina raises her glass of red wine, never refusing free alcohol. Ochako gulps, knowing that the gift was definitely not for the baby.

Itsuka goes pink in the face when she pulls out the red and gold sexy qipao dress and scented oils set.

"Figured that you might need a stress reliever once you have a crying baby on your hands" Mina says, taking a swig of her drink.

Itsuka laughs. "Oh, I'm way past having pregnant sex but thank you! I'm sure Tetsu will enjoy this gift"

"Enjoy what?" Tetsutesu asks with a grin, clearly seeing the skimpy oriental dress in his wife's hands.

Itsuka doesn't need to say anything when her husband approvingly thumb's up the scandalous gift from Mina, thanking her for it.

"Whoa, what a lucky dude" Eijirou nudges his friend's side, coming back inside with a tray of cooked food.

"Well ladies, lunch is served!" both men announce, running back and forth to set the table up.

The women thank them as they go to serve themselves.

"Hey babe, where's my gift?" Eijirou teasingly pokes Mina's shoulder.

They've both been too busy dating other people to really hang out lately. She shrugs at him, acting nonchalant, "I don't know what you're talking about, Ei"

He gives her a look, "you're not the type to shop for just one person"

She knows that he's got her there. If she was buying something sexy for a friend (mainly Ochako) then it was guaranteed that she also picked something up for herself. Her lingerie mainly went towards impressing her dates rather than Eijirou since as a couple, they had other means of intimacy while still being chill with each other but every now and then she liked to spoil him.

"My place, tonight" she simply tells him, facing his side as she kisses his half-lips, "and bring lots of lube" her lips brush against his, feeling him shudder.

"Aye, aye captain" he turns to lean down to fully kiss her.

"Nautical?" she raises a brow.

He nods with a smile, "nautical" he confirms. During their private time spent together, one of their favored bedroom kinks was to role-play. It was one thing that they held special between the two as they continued having an open relationship with others but they'd always have role-play to keep their flame burning brightly.

"Can you guys go make out by the chips instead? I'm trying to get potato salad" Ochako deadpans, waiting for them to move out of the way.

They laugh and sneakily attack her with a kiss on either side of her cheeks.

"Ugh, you guys are so embarrassing!" she laughs, finally able to scoop a chunk of salad on her plate.

"You know you love us~" they chirp in unison, linking arms together as they go bug the heavily pregnant host of the party and her husband.

Ochako watches the troublemaking pair walk off as she shakes her head with an amused smile plastered on her face.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Maybe Ochako should ask Bakugou to show her more of his dessert-related kinks because that chocolate syrup was doing wonders for her.

It's a late friday afternoon, the sunsetting into a blend of pink and orange in a cloudless sky. Telephone poles lined the viewpoint of the quiet neighborhood with old torn shoes slung over the wires. Birds flocking about with the rare early sounds of cicadas getting ready for the summer months.

Ochako went to her local convenience store to purchase her favorite jelly drinks when she bumps into a familiar face from her time taking the provisional hero's license test during her first year. Ketsubutsu Academy's at the time second year student Yo Shindou had profusely bowed to her, apologizing for causing her to drop her bag.

She waves her hand around with a kind smile telling him that it was really no big deal. She just bought a good amount of jelly drinks and nothing else.

He still insisted on making it up to her as she follows him back into the store and lets him buy her a popsicle. He let her pick whichever she wanted, insisting that the price didn't matter.

Already, she's liking the guy even if she felt somewhat guilty.

"Your money is no good to me, Uraraka-san but perhaps you'd accompany me out… on a date?" he rubbed the back of his neck, nervously chuckling with a small blush.

There was something about Shindou that reminds her of a year older version of her Bun-Bun Izuku. She bites her bottom lip and thinks back on all her past failed dates. What's another to her list? And who knows, he _might_ just be Mr. Right.

"Sure, okay, I'd love to" she agrees, slightly startled when he takes her hands in his and energetically shakes them, thanking her a million times for the date.

Ochako goes home that night, barely entering her apartment, leaning her back against her front door and looks at her free hand. It's still tingling from Shindou's touch in a good way.

Their first date wasn't smooth at all.

Shindou crashed into a waiter as he rushed towards the table where Ochako was already seated at waiting for him. He caused the crash as he looped around a tie on his neck. Giving up on the pesky tie, he tried helping the waiter by jostling the man's stained uniform with his vibrate quirk to shake off the liquids from him but it only caused the man to clasp his hands on his mouth and run to throw up outside the restaurant.

Shindou felt bad as he yelled a quick 'sorry!' to the man as he navigated through the mazes of tables to reach his date. This caused Ochako to guffaw, clasping her hands to her mouth so she wouldn't spit-laugh in his face. He was reminding her of an overly eager puppy.

He was a perfect gentleman who was considerate of her. Asking about her past, her current self, her future aspirations and when asked about himself – he honestly admitted that he's currently still taking anger management classes for his short-temper. She nods, saying how she remembers how he lost his cool during the license test.

Weakly chuckling, he shrugs his shoulders, "guilty as charged but I promise you that I'm trying to improve"

She giggles leaning over to place her hand gently on top of his, "that's good to hear, Shindou"

"Please call me Yo" he insists.

She feels her stomach twist and agrees, "okay, Yo, but only if you call me Ochako"

He laughs with a sparkling smile, "of course!"

Their second date, they're nearly kicked out of the movie theater.

Yo had shown a bit of his rage when he was overcharged and didn't receive a movie special item that he had pre-ordered. The staff had apologized to him and even gave him a complimentary large popcorn. He told Ochako that he was planning on getting them a popcorn but now they didn't need to worry.

She shakes her head feeling a bit guilty over the show he put up but a second later, he was apologizing to her for her having to see that side of him. Truth be told, it somewhat reminded her of Bakugou and that caused her stomach to twist again.

' _Don't start comparing guys to him, Ochako'_ she tells herself, kicking down the feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"What movie are we watching?" she asks when they walk down the lobby to find their theater room.

Yo walks backwards with a playful grin on his lips, "the one you've been wanting to see that you texted me about"

Ochako had enjoyed her first date with him so much that she was willing to exchange contact info with him. It had been a week since then and with how dreadfully slow work's been for her, she must have forgotten that she mentioned it to him.

Her heart begins to beat a little bit faster at his attentive personality.

They watch half of the movie in peace before Yo tries getting her attention by flicking a kernel at her. She silently gasps and grabs a handful of popcorn throwing it his way. They're being shushed by fellow couples and movie-goers. Laughing, they don't care that they'd wasted an entire bucket of popcorn that goes from their hands to emptying out onto their row.

"Run!" Yo loudly whispers in her ear before a staff member can blind them with their flashlight to kick them out.

Ochako is shaking from her laughter that she stumbles on other people's feet as they scoot out of the aisle.

He surprises her by quickly pecking her cheek and telling her that he hopes that she doesn't mind.

Feeling the blood rush to her rosy cheeks, she tells him that she doesn't.

Their third (official) date doesn't happen until the end of May.

During that time, he's surprised her with flowers at work and mini coffee outings during her lunch break. She's even boldly shown him where she lives, feeling comfortable in a strange way for showing only him. Her stomach twists anytime she thinks that the only person she's never shown is Bakugou due to her embarrassment. All thoughts of her friend get washed over when Yo tells her that her place, while creaky and leaky felt homey.

She feels another emotion swirl in the pit of her stomach as her heart begins to race yet again.

He's also shared some details of his own personal life surprising her by telling her that he's actually a police officer. He had worked as a small time search and rescue pro hero but then he went back to school, joined the police academy and has been an officer ever since.

She takes him by surprise, apologizing to him for thinking that he was a highway construction worker or something in that area due to his quirk. He boisterously laughed it off, saying that he didn't mind. In fact, he took it as a compliment saying how he was considering it while in high school but in the end, he aspired to be more, to do more and thought it'd be best for his anger issues to be disciplined better this way.

It's during this date, when he takes her out for a simple picnic at a nearby park that they share their first official kiss.

Their fourth date happens in the beginning of June.

They went to dinner at Yo's favorite restaurant which Ochako has learned to just accept the luxurious romantic location rather than have her soul seep out anytime she dares look at the price of the menu.

Not wasting a second of their time together, he takes the initiative to take her to his place and harshly pins her against the wall of the hallway before reaching his apartment. She hungrily attacks his lips, ignoring that tight feeling knotting her stomach. This is what she's been wanting, she reminds herself.

Their fifth date wasn't so much of a date as their limbs are tangled in his bed.

After she got off work, she giddily headed towards his place deciding that it was the right time to go all the way with Shindou thinking that he could potentially be her Mr. Right. He's been the best date she's ever had and she actually likes him! He clearly likes her too if he always asks when she's free and doesn't care that she has such a crappy apartment. But every time they share a first, she can't help but feel her stomach knot up. Ignoring the feeling, she reminds herself that this is what she's been wanting. Clearly, she's only feeling weird because all her dreams of love are finally coming true.

Shoveling all her belongings into her only nice purse she has – a large white purse with a pink cherry blossom design. It was a gift from her parents when she officially became a pro hero after graduating high school. They had saved for months in order to get her a nice little gift, thanking them through tears, she vowed she'd always cherish it.

Waiting outside for a taxi, she doesn't check her phone. Never seeing all the urgent missed calls from Eijirou nor the many text messages that went unread about a high-alert fire trending on the breaking news until the very next day.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Please! Please! Save my child!" a mother desperately pleaded, frightened tears streaming down her face as she deathly gripped onto her steering wheel. She's hyperventilating with blood dripping down from her head to the side of her eyes and curves of her cheeks. A ripped air bag slowly deflating but ultimately saving her from severe injuries to her body.

A wailing child can be heard, seated in a booster seat in the back, tightly holding a teddy bear plush.

The mother had crashed straight into a telephone pole. Front of the car completely damaged as angry puffs of grey smoke clouded the sky. The bottom of the car was leaking oil, slowly treading towards a sparking damaged electrical wire from the knocked over pole.

"Shit…" Katsuki cursed under his breath.

If there's one type of fire he absolutely hates – it's electrical fires.

Electricity and gasoline just don't mix well.

"Hey, I'm gonna get you outta this. _Both_ of you, ya hear!" he tells the terrified mother as he glances over to the red-faced child hysterically crying in the back. He feels his heart tug at the situation, wanting to calmly and rationally think of a plan to save both mother and child.

The mother's lips quiver as she nods.

His team takes a good while trying to safely neutralize the situation. The car was beyond repair but they had successfully avoided a big explosion and many causalities.

"Thank you! Thank you!" the mother thanks him and the entire team, securely cradling her child in her arms as she gave Katsuki a hug.

He lets a small smile appear on his lips, rustling the blonde hair of the little girl in the brunette mother's arms. Before he could fully let out a breath of relief, his superior runs up to him. "Bakugou, we gotta go! There's a fire in Akihabara!"

He nods, letting the saved mother know that they should wait until the EMT arrive to check up on their injuries with a small group of firemen staying behind to make sure that everything was safe.

Running to the firetruck, he grabs onto the side handle preferring to ride outside the truck for faster access. They arrive to a burning office building right as a window in the top floor breaks, releasing a burst of flames.

A few people with tattered clothes, covered in soot are violently coughing, letting them know that there's still at least seven people remaining in the middle floors.

Katsuki yells for the civilians to get medical attention as he sees the police already blocking the main streets. He hastily makes his way inside connected to his oxygen tank. The fire burned through everything in sight that his helmet gets covered in black the instant he dives into areas that are burning brightly with creaking noises, letting him know that the structure is ready to give out in any moment.

He saves one man pinned to the ground from their shoulder asking him if he's able to escape on his own. The man covers his mouth and nose with his good arm and assures him that he can.

Letting him go on his own, he tells him to follow the smoke from where he's cleared a path.

The second and third, both women are hiding under a desk covering their heads as they cry. Katsuki yells to notify them that help has arrived. He scoops them right as a burning pillar comes crashing down, destroying the desk where they were just hiding under. "Follow the path! Hurry!" he tells them as he keeps making his way up, carefully calling out and making sure the floors are cleared. He keeps a mental note of how many are left as he fights his way through the angry flames.

Busting a door stuck from the condensed smoke shutting it tight from the other side, he unclips his axe and kicks the door down finding the fourth (man) and fifth (woman) in the stairwell. The man is leaning against the back wall of the stairs with the woman cradles in his arms unconscious.

Katsuki can see that the bottom stairs are glowing indicating that the fire was detained in the lower level for the time being and the upper floors are still a mystery to him. The couple was stuck in the middle. He bends down to give them his oxygen, asking the man if he's capable of carrying the woman down.

The man struggles to catch his breath but says he can try. Not liking the sound of his answer, Katsuki decides to give them his oxygen, placing his protective helmet over the woman's head. "Follow the smoke," he coughs, getting the first puffs of toxic air in his lungs, "you share the air with her!" he tells the man as he thanks him and carries the unconscious woman on his back.

Covering his mouth and nose with the bend of his right arm, Katsuki grips his axe with his left and takes the stairs in twos to reach the upper floors and find the missing last two remaining people.

He feels his skin sweat from underneath all his protective gear, knowing that using his own quirk in a raging fire as this one wouldn't be the smartest idea. He calls out for anyone on the floor he's currently on, maneuvering through turned over desks, burning closed off sections, and hacked away to make way for himself and the last two missing people.

Thinking that the floor was clear, he's about to go up one more level when he hears a masculine voice coughing while yelling for help. Turning around, he heads back in the direction of a blocked off storage closet to get to the sixth person. Katsuki hacks and pulls away the pillars of wood in the way, easily disintegrating into small embers. "Oh, please save me!" the voice violently coughs, "I can't breathe! I can't breathe!"

"I need you to stay calm! I'm getting you outta here!" Katsuki yells back, finding a shirtless man as the man had covered the bottom spacing of the door to try and keep the smoke away.

He asks the man if he's able to make his way out, with an urgent nod, the man doesn't need to be told twice to follow the cleared off path to get downstairs.

"AHH! FUCK!" Katsuki loudly curses, gritting his teeth as he opened the door to the next floor as a gust of hot wind hits him with a burst going off. It knocks him right back into the stairwell, slamming him against a pile of debris that fell from a hole in the ceiling. A support structure covered in thick nails impales his left bicep causing him to drop his axe.

He feels his hand popping from his quirk forming in his fingertips due to the throbbing pain, taking a moment to wince and stay in the pile. He feels his throat tighten with the desperate need for fresh air, knowing that he's almost at his limit of how long he can withstand smoke. He's always feeling the adrenaline of rescuing people that it helps to distract him from not thinking too much on his own needs of breathing and being safe. But when he gets injured, it's like all his mental strength gets thrown out the window and he's stubbornly reminded that he's not invincible.

He'll be damned if he can't save the last person remaining. Grunting, he chops the piece of wood impaled into his arm to a smaller size, knowing he'll bleed out if he were to just detach himself entirely. Making his way back into the same room that just kicked his ass out – he grits his teeth and yells, asking if anyone can hear him.

Katsuki finds his last and seventh person, a woman locked inside an office. She's surrounded by bottles of kerosene and what appeared to be gun powder. She has her head in her hands as she violently quakes, mumbling something to her herself.

"Hey, I'm getting you outta here!" he informs the woman, looking down to the reddened doorknob. He knows he can't touch it and doesn't want to add his own explosive quirk into the equation in order to.

"No! If you do, I'll shoot you!" she threatens, looking up as her hands tremble to lift her gun hiding in her lap. "I don't deserve to be saved! Leave me here to burn!" she cries, "this is all my fault!" she looks him dead in the eye. Sweat, soot, and mucus covering her face as she turns the gun on herself, "I started the fire! I JUST WANTED HIM TO LOVE ME!" she screeches, banging the gun against her head making her blood blend into her black hair.

"Listen here you crazy bitch, it's my job to evacuate everyone! Fuckin' woman up and deal with the consequences of your dumbass choices!" he's about five seconds away from breaking the glass window and dragging her psychotic ass out of the building.

He grips his axe in his right hand and waits for her to decide if she'll kill herself or face the music, knowing that as soon as he gets her out of here, he'll report back and she'll be arrested.

In the end, she broke down unable to pull the trigger on neither herself nor the fireman just trying to do his job. Katsuki tightly takes her by the wrist, not caring if he's being too rough. She didn't deserve any of his sympathy for burning down an entire eighty-floored office building in the heart of a touristic site such as Akihabara. Luckily the fire had only reached until the thirtieth and all the people had been found within the first fifteen floors.

Katsuki threw the woman in the way of the medics to make sure she was okay before the police could take her in for questioning. Later he'd find out that she was a homewrecker who was stalking her boss, a married man who wanted nothing to do with her. She caused the fire for insurance purposes, thinking that if her boss didn't love her back then she'd cost him millions of dollars in property damage with killing herself in the fire. In the end, her will to live had won over, not caring whether her boss loved her or not. She just wanted to live but she sentenced herself to a life in jail.

"Thank you so much, Ground Zero!" the people he saved cheered, only knowing him from his retired hero name.

Katsuki doesn't care what they call him by as long as he knows within himself that he managed to save as many lives as he possibly could. He dismisses the praises, never dealing well with gratitude as he headed towards the parked ambulance to get checked out while gripping his left injured arm.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Even though he took a shower before leaving work yesterday, he can still smell the smoke on his body. Feeling like a walking fuckin' woodsy camp fire. All he's missing are the s'mores which already doesn't help the natural faint caramel scent that his quirk naturally gives off.

Katsuki opens his apartment's door, shucking off his loosely tied boots as he enters his place from just coming back from work having left his phone in his locker. He carefully takes off his shirt, leaving his black tank on, wound still fresh from the fire yesterday. Wearing just a black tank, white gauze bandage wrapped around his left bicep multiple times, blue jeans with a black leather belt and white socks.

He's beyond exhausted, not wanting anyone to bother him but he knows that someone is bound to. It's been the biggest fire he's had to deal with in a while, being broadcasted nationwide. His friends know that he's usually the one to jump in head first into the dangers of trying to rescue civilians rather than staying back and dealing with the actual fire.

The only people to text him on a daily basis were both Camie and Eijirou. His tired eyes scroll through all fifty unread texts from Camie, all ranging from 'r u totes ok?' to 'o shittt, the fire's lit' and his personal favorite stupid text, 'ur not like dead right, lmao, bakubro!'

Her texts were a mix of worry and giving him a play-by-play of what the news was reporting as if he wasn't the one dealing with the situation first-hand. He shoots her a simple text telling her that he's clearly not dead, he's too stubborn to die and that she better let him sleep in or else he'll really _finally_ change the locks to his place. Eijirou on the other hand, while not texting him as many messages, all his were walls of text consisting of asking him if he was okay to begging him to call to let him and Mina know that he's fine, and then the most recent last text was to let him know that if he doesn't answer back by a specified time then he better expect a visit.

He lets both friends know that he's fine, coming home only to crash hard and barely noticing in the morning that he didn't have his phone on him.

Katsuki tells Eijirou that he better not pull a surprise visit on him, not wanting company over. He just wants another shower, cook something simple, and go to bed early again. After this fire, his chief had given him a week to recuperate having taken in a good amount of smoke into his lungs and also because he tends to do a lot overtime and as a work policy – he's being forced to take time off.

He understands being given time off for his health but because he works too much? It was utterly stupid in his mind. It's not like he's got anything better to do, Ochako practically told him to fuck off without needing to say it. She hasn't texted him in nearly a month and a few weeks, so he naturally assumed that she's finally found a decent boyfriend.

Not like he cares. That's just one less thing off his shoulders.

He feels his muscles in his left arm twitch at the thought of her. Mind wandering back to yesterday morning when he saved that brunette-haired mother and the blonde child – his thoughts travelling into the dark recesses where he rarely likes venturing into of the numerous 'what if's' of his life.

What if that was his wife.

What if that was his child.

What if he wasn't fast enough to save them.

What if he had someone to love.

What if he had a family.

Katsuki has convinced himself that the bachelor lifestyle was what he's always wanted. Never making the efforts to deepen his relationship with others outside his small-knit friend group. Subconsciously he clenches his left hand into a tight fist, not realizing until he winces that he had reopened the wound.

Watching the white of the gauze pool with a center of red, he deeply sighs and goes directly to his hallway bathroom to change it. The EMT's had given him basic staples instead of stitching the wound close, not needing the extra level of wound closure. He's been studying his ass off for his paramedic license so he agrees with their decision. He's just a dumbass that let his mind carry him away to thoughts he's never had nor questioned before.

"It's that damn… Angel Face…" he can't even bring himself to use any other of his countless nicknames for her, "fault…" he looks at his reflection in the mirror. He's ready to pass out, ruby red eyes darkening to a draconian crimson with how tired and angry he is at his mind but he's not blind to the hint of a swirling _something_ in his gaze. He doesn't know what it is but the embers inside of him threaten to burn him from the inside out as they silently grow into full fledged flames.

He knows he can't go to bed on an empty stomach, sluggishly turning off the light switch and closing his bathroom's door. He's about to make his way into the kitchen when he hears an urgent pounding as his doorbell's ring doesn't fully get to finish right as the next ring sounds off.

Not in the mood to annoyingly yell at whoever's at the door, secretly dreading if it was Eijirou, he just opens it to find Ochako heavily panting. Her hand is supporting her on the side wall as her free hand holds onto her waist. Chest heaving as she shakes in front of him, having ran to his place. A sheen layer of perspiration covers her forehead, bangs sticking glued on as she looks up at him.

Chocolate brown orbs silently stare at him until they finally crack and she's loudly crying right outside his door. He pulls her into his place taken aback when she wraps her smaller arms around him. "You're here! You're really here!" she chokes on a sob, burying her face into his chest.

She trembles in his arms, clutching onto the back material of his tank. He lets her tears soak his front, not knowing how to respond.

"I just… I just…" she mumbles into his chest, "saw the news and I… I…"

He feels his heart skip a beat but didn't want to read too much into it, reminding himself that this is Ochako. Of course, she'd be scared for him as any friend would. It's nothing more, nothing less than that.

"Oi, Pink Cheeks, I ain't dead" he reminds her, not having the heart to make her move off him, "I'm too fuckin' stubborn to die, okay?" he tries to chuckle to lighten the mood, "I'm ready to pass out here so if ya came for _that_ … then I'll have to take a raincheck"

Ochako lets go of him to face him, "Katsuki, we're friends. I don't always want just sex from you"

He rolls his eyes, acting indifferent, "Really? Could've fooled me…"

She knows she's guilty of not contacting him even for a coffee or something normal friends would do. Knowing that she's guilty for making it seem like their relationship revolved solely around their agreement.

"I… uhh…" she takes a step back from him, unable to directly look at him, "I screwed up"

This catches his attention as he sways back and forth. Catching his balance, he gestures for them to sit at his couch to talk.

She twiddles her padded thumbs, taking an interest in her shaky knees, "I'm sorry I haven't been around… I bumped into Yo Shindou a while back ago and we kinda hit it off…" she starts.

"Wait, that fuckin' fake ass bitch Shindou from the hero license test?" he clarifies, vaguely remembering what the guy looks like but he does remember that his blood did boil at the way that asshole presented himself. Acting all sweet and like an older, dweebier version of Deku but it was all a façade. Katsuki could sniff out his kind from a mile away – a manipulator.

She slowly nods, feeling the tears forming yet again in the corner of her eyes but this time out of hurt rather than relief. "We were somewhat dating and…" she gulps, "I thought he could be the one but once we slept together…"

He stiffens at her words, feeling a mixture of emotions at the fact that she let him touch her intimately.

"He used me," she sniffles, "he told me everything I've always wanted to hear and once I foolishly gave him sex… it's like he turned into a completely different person, suddenly acting possessive of me" she shudders, hot tears blurring her vision, "I don't need a man to dictate my life… I just want to be loved!" she shakes her shoulders, letting loud painful tears and whimpers escape her lips.

Ochako felt like the stupidest person in the whole universe.

Completely and utterly vulnerable when she's pride herself of being strong, independent, sweet, selfless. She's been told time and time again that she's a treasure from her friends that love her but when she put herself out there – she gets screwed over. And worst of all – she can't tell the man sitting next to her that Shindou had hurt her during their intimacy. He was too rough, going as far as using his vibrate quirk thinking she'd like that. After her night was over, she went home barely able to walk and broke down right as she closed her door. Her mind kicked her repeatedly with the harsh reminder that he wasn't Katsuki.

Katsuki was rough but in a gentle way. He was always thoughtful of her feelings, asking for permission before trying something new with her. He never once used his quirk in the bedroom to burn her, never hurting her and always studying the way her body reacts to his. He was the most passionate person she's ever been with, her mind reminding her that he's ruined her for all other men just as she had desired to be. She wanted someone unforgettable, someone that etched their name into her very soul, someone that she trusts with every fiber of her being.

Ochako usually went to Eijirou to get rescued from dates and situations she wasn't feeling comfortable in. But she couldn't ask him to save her here, knowing what she was doing at the time and thinking it was the right decision. She breaks down with her dearest _friend_ sitting at her side, hands covering her face as she lets her guilt come out in revolts of salty tears streaming down her face. She couldn't tell Katsuki that at that moment, she wished to have been saved by him.

Katsuki feels the rage course through him like molten lava, hating to see how crestfallen his close _friend_ looks. He's suddenly awake, revving to grab his metal bat stored in his closet to storm down to the parking garage and hop on his bike and go find that two-faced bastard Shindou. He calms down when he thinks about Ochako, wanting to comfort her but knowing that they can't have sex.

He's never been one for touchy-feeling, heart-to-heart conversations, feeling lost in what he should say to her. But then he'd be just as bad as Shindou, only telling her things she'd want to hear and he's not the type of optimist to view things through rose-colored glasses, always being a realist.

"Oi, look at me" he licks his dry lips, gently turning her by the shoulders to angle her closer to him. "Shindou can go fuck himself, ya hear me?" he grits his teeth, knowing she's listening but still hiding from him. "You don't need to be submissive for anyone! That's not the Ochako I know," he moves his hands to gently try and pry her hands away from her face, "the Ochako I know can blast any jerk to the stratosphere and leave his sorry ass up there" he feels a small vibration coming from her hands, letting him know that he's slowly getting to her.

"You can't let one bad experience ruin you for the next… you'll uhh…" he gulps, feeling cheesy for saying this, "you'll find the right person for you soon enough or some shit so don't…" he feels her hands move away from her face, "don't give up and I'll still help you if you want or whatever…" he cringes hard, hoping his wound doesn't reopen.

"Are you still tired?" she boldly asks.

"Not anymore, why?" he lifts a curious brow, feeling firecrackers popping off in the pit of his stomach.

Her own stomach twists as she takes in the sight of his bandaged arm. "I could blow off some steam and you're hurt so…"

"I'm no quitter" he chuckles, knowing where this is going. He's exhausted but he'd never be too tired for her, he just might not last as long as he usually can.

"You rarely request anything so…" her blush mixes with the red of her face from crying earlier.

He doesn't want to hurt her and doesn't know if she'll agree but it's worth a try. "Go down on me"

Her eyes travel down south to his jeans knowing what's waiting for her behind the two layers of fabric. She hasn't verbally thanked him for his kind words, trying to make her feel better. She hasn't also thanked him for still being alive – here physically to even talk to her where she can feel his body's warmth right next her. As soon as she finally checked her phone with all its alerts, her heart nearly stopped when she clicked on links about what was happening in Akihabara. Praying to all the deities of the known universe, she hoped that he'd come out of that horrendous fire safe and sound. Not wanting to think about how unbearable it'd be to lose him, she wanted to show him how much she appreciates him as a person, a hero, and her friend.

She slides down the couch to get on her knees in front of him, keeping their gaze locked on as she licks her lips seductively.

"Take your belt off"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Whoa! What a packed chapter this was!

I'll try to update sometime next week as I get a jump start on the Kacchako Positivity Week prompts for the Tumblr event that's happening very soon! Of course, all of my submissions will only be found on here and not Tumblr. I'm going to try my very hardest to do all the prompts. O:

Next Time: Izakaya Showdown

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	10. Izakaya Showdown

AN: Gracias por los comentarios en español! Ahh! ¡Lo siento mucho a haber olvidado responder, pero me alegra saber que otros pueden disfrutar esta historia y me alegro de que a todos les guste la manera en que escribo a Katsuki! Todo el mundo lo escribe tan enojado todo el tiempo, pero hay mucho más para su personaje. Katsuki es un tsundere picante total. LOL.

It makes happy to know that this story can be enjoyed regardless of language barrier! I always get a kick outta reading all your reviews so again, thank you for the continued support!

I was itching to update at least once this week since I'm currently busy typing like crazy to get a head start on the Kacchako Positivity Week event prompts (from Tumblr) that I'll be uploading starting Aug.19th! The event goes on from the 19th to Aug.25th – all my submissions will be complied into a single collection, so be on a look out for that! And also, be on the look out for a brand new _one-shot_ idea. I'm hoping to be able to upload that one sometime later this week. Uhuhuhu, so much Kacchako goodness.

Okay enough of my ramblings… now onto this milestone! I honestly didn't think I'd get this very far with this fic but then again none of my story ideas are ever easy. Haha.

Happy reading~ :D

Izakaya Showdown

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Eijirou lazily flips through the channels on his t.v. while sipping on his kirin beer.

He knows he should go to bed but something isn't sitting right with him. It's the start of the typhoon season and right off the bat – there's a heavy rainstorm roughly hitting against the clear glass of his apartment's windows. Balcony slowly filling up into a mini pool but at least his flowering plants and herbs will be well fed.

That's not what's bothering him though.

What's bothering him is the fact that the last text his girlfriend had sent him was that she was out at a club avoiding the rain and hasn't responded since then. That was well over three hours ago with her very last text telling him how she's met a guy and potentially a girl that she was both flirting up for the night. He texts her back to be careful and have fun, never having an issue with her own personal kinks.

He was personally more of the one-on-one type of action, not really playing well with sharing with others. So, if Mina wanted to be with two or more people at once, it wasn't his place to judge her.

They've established an open relationship since their starting days in high school but lately it's been gnawing at him to settle down.

He's taken out of his thoughts when he hears someone rasping at his front door. Groaning, he gets up from his nice, warm, comfy spot on his red leather couch and goes to answer, not caring to check the peep-hole first. If someone had the intention to rob or hurt him – his hardening quirk would instantly activate before said perpetrator would get the chance to do any real damage.

Luckily no one was in the mood to mess with him, opening the door to find Mina shaking like a leaf right outside. Her short little black leopard patterned dress is clinging to her like a second skin, high heels tightly gripped in her right hand as her gold bangles rattle. She wipes at her smudged runny mascara with her left hand, plucking at her false eyelashes.

"Babe, what happened?" he deeply frowns, gently guiding her inside.

He locks his door as she throws her shoes in his genkan entrance. "I don't want to do this anymore, Ei!" she hoarsely cries out, facing him as she hugs herself, "I only…" her lips quiver, teeth chattering from her emotions and how cold she feels, "I only want you" she confesses with a conflicted face, "I don't want you to hate me" she looks down, avoiding eye contact.

Eijirou was used to picking up the broken pieces of her heart whenever a date didn't go as planned. Too many assholes and the nice ones still ended up screwing her over. Man or woman, it didn't matter – none of them knew how to handle the spitfire that was Mina. None of them were worthy of her love.

They've never talked about ending their open relationship. Each did whatever they wanted as long as they remembered that they were committed to each other. It wasn't an ideal type of relationship but it worked for them, still unsure of where they stood as a couple but when they were out with other people – they didn't have to dwell on those thoughts for long.

He walks over to her, rubbing her crossed arms to warm her up a bit, "why would I hate you?" he softly asks, "I've been yours since day one" he gently lifts her chin up so she'd look up to see how genuine he's being.

"I don't want to be selfish" she sniffles, "I don't want to force you into ending what we have now… but I…" she tries avoiding his eyes again, "tonight made me realize that I truly love you, Eijirou" she breaks down, threatening to fall as he swiftly catches her in his arms.

They both gently go down right by the entrance of his apartment. He's known this for ages, patiently waiting for her to come to him. He was never going to pressure her to love only him, knowing how big of a heart she has. She's his ultimate treasure and he wasn't going to cage her up like a songbird.

The vibrations coming from his chest confuse her as he begins to chuckle. "You're the only one for me, Mina. Truth be told, I haven't really gone out on dates since April"

She's taken by surprise – both always competing every week to see who was more popular. Eijirou could go out with anyone regardless of gender meanwhile she was a bit more picky, preferring guys to go out with. If his words are true then she's technically won their little game. Frowning, she tries to piece the information together in her head.

"But what about that girl you've been taking out?" he strains to hear her question.

He slightly pulls away to look at her at arm's length, "she's a senpai at the bistro, much older and much wiser than both of us combined," he finally tells her the truth, "I'd just keep her company and we'd talk" he rubs her arms once, "she told me that if we truly love each other then we'd sit down and talk things out"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want you to think that you _needed_ to be with _only_ me for _my_ sake"

"You give me way too much space" she playfully scoffs, wiping at her irritated eyes.

"I've never wanted to be a controlling boyfriend" he softly laughs, shaking his head, "if you were happy then I was happy" he helps to lift them off the floor, "I'd wait an eternity for you, Mina" he gives her a heartwarming smile.

She lets the calmed black tears slide down her face, "I love you, you idiot"

"I love you, my alien queen" he leans down to kiss her, not caring that her cherry red lipstick gets smeared all over his mouth. "Now go clean your face, your makeup wipes are in the medicine cabinet and go take a nice hot bath before you get sick" he instructs, turning her shoulders in the direction of the hallway.

She quietly thanks him and goes to take care of herself.

An hour later, she's feeling better. Clean face and wearing Eijirou's oversized t-shirt and cotton shorts to sleep in. She finds him already under his covers in bed, struggling to keep his eyes opened as he grips onto his phone, furiously blinking in order to stay awake.

"You could've gone to sleep, silly" she crawls to her side of the bed.

Throwing his phone onto his night table, he yawns shaking his head, "I'm trying to be an attentive boyfriend"

She laughs, tucking herself comfortably to his side, "you've always been"

"So… are we," he yawns again, wrapping an arm around her, stubbornly fighting the sleep off once again but the soothing rumbling of the storm outside wasn't helping, "gonna address the elephant in the room?" he gently pries, wanting to understand what made her want to suddenly become exclusive.

Mina sighs for what felt like the hundredth time that night, "you do deserve to know" she says, going on to give him a refresher on her night. She explains how she was headed towards a love hotel with the guy and his date when she started getting red flags. As the trio entered the room, they begin to casually talk to ease the tension and that's when she realizes that they were trying to recruit her for hostess work.

Most pimps just grabbed women off the streets but this guy had somewhat class for trying to butter her up before trying to seduce her. He said that he likes to take potential new employees on a test run before hiring them. Mina likes having a fun time but not like this. She tells Eijirou that the guy and his whore were lucky that she hadn't fried off his balls with her acid quirk.

She aimlessly wandered around the tropical storm in her skimpy outfit for a good while. Thinking about herself, about Eijirou, thinking about what they're doing, and finally coming to the conclusion that she's just tired of the games. Of keeping score. Of the curiosity if she _could_ fall in love with another. Of everything.

Maybe Ochako had it right all along. Monogamy was the way to go.

The only upside was that Mina has already found the love of her life. She was just too blind to see it.

"Shit, sorry" Eijirou shakes his head, "now you're stuck with me"

Mina knows he's secretly happy just as she is, "you're stuck with me too" she laughs, pulling the covers from under her to get inside them.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

" _Shiiitt… Ocha…ko…" a deep groan escapes his gritted teeth, adam's apple bobbing as he dryly gulps._

 _Head lolling back as he hotly clutches onto the couch cushion to stop himself from putting his hands on her head to grip her silky chocolate brown tresses with his rough fingers. His self-control rapidly starts to crumble with the pleasure he's receiving._

 _Stopping himself from grinding, he tightly screws his eyes shut and focuses on the noises around him._

Katsuki nearly slices his finger when he's brought back to reality. It's been three days since Ochako went down on him and every waking moment, he's constantly being reminded. He mentally swats away at the burning coals within him, the embers swaying as they threaten to grow into full flames.

He's not gonna fall in love, dammit.

It's just been too long since someone has been a good lay, he tries to reason.

Chopping the rest of his chilis, he moves on to chop the veggies and prep the meat for his infamous super spicy, thousand-hell fires special curry. He takes out one large pot and sets aside a smaller pot for a batch of a less spicy version.

He's just being a nice, considerate friend because Ochako can't handle his level of spice. She's coming over after work, having bugged him about some 'exciting' news she has to share with him. Making more of an effort to talk to him, hang out, and not just come to him for sex. He appreciates it, not really minding either reason for her visits. It's not like he has anything better to do with his week off of work and all.

Thirty minutes later, he's done and just waiting for everything to cook when he hears someone knocking at his door. Already know that it's not Camie because she'd just bust in using her own spare key and it's right around the time that Ochako has being getting off work – he knows that it could only be her.

To his dismay, his clairvoyance must be temporarily out of order. He opens up to find his elderly neighbor that lives a few floors down. He's saved one of her seven cats at least once a week with them always finding their way up to the roof and disturbing the t.v. cable satellites.

"My sweet Bakugou-san, I saw the horrific news of what happened recently in Akihabara" the elderly woman shakes her head, sadden by the fact that the young man in front of her is always throwing himself into fires regardless of how many times he's politely told her that it's his sworn duty. "Please accept this takoyaki as thank you for always helping me out and our community" she humbly bows, shoving a covered tray in his hands and turns to walk away towards the elevators.

His elderly neighbor doesn't even allow him a moment to properly thank her as he's left standing in front of his opened door. It's in that moment that he peers out to see the person he was expecting all along making her way out the elevator.

Ochako bows and greets the elderly woman, keeping the elevator opened for her. She skips her way towards Bakugou in a giddy fashion. Based on what she's wearing (camouflage patterned high-waisted shorts and a short-sleeved pink gypsy crop top with white sneakers) he assumes that she went to go change at home before making her way to his place.

He tries to not undress her with his eyes, mentally battling with himself on his jumbled emotions. "Hi, Katsuki!" she energetically greets, feeling a hundred times better now that she's no longer foolishly trying to make herself like Shindou and trying to block out other reasons from her head.

She leans over, the savory scent wafting from the covered tray in his hands, "that smells amazing!" she tells him, watering at the mouth as a small moan escapes her parted lips.

Katsuki chomps on his inner cheek _hard_ to stop his brain from wandering into fantasizing territory of him forgetting about dinner, about the reason why she's even there, and just take her on the back of his front door.

"Not so fast, Pink Cheeks" he struggles to keep his composure, kicking his door shut with one leg and walks towards his kitchen, "I didn't just bust my ass off to make my special curry for you to completely ignore it for takoyaki"

She nods, getting comfortable on a metal bar stool at his counter, "you're right, I'm sorry, I'm just that hungry" she rubs her semi-exposed stomach as he deeply inhales.

His eyes forcefully removed themselves from the view, turning to serve her a scoop of white rice and curry. "I know you're a big baby so I toned down the heat" he tells her right as he places the food in front of her with a silver spoon.

She warmly smiles at him, feeling touched by his thoughtful gesture, "you remember that about me?"

Katsuki rolls his eyes, letting a small scoff escape his lips, "we were stuck in the same class and dorms for three whole years, genius" he tells her while he serves his own plate – not about to further elaborate how he's never forgotten anything about her.

He doesn't want to read too much into the faint blush forming on her cheeks, wanting to play it off as the mild heat getting to her. "How is it?" he grunts, making his way around the kitchen's island counter to go sit next to her while mentally containing his frenzied anticipation at her critique.

She places one palm on her cheek as she leans into it, spoon still in her mouth as she moans again before taking the spoon out. "Your cooking has always been beyond amazing, Katsuki" she honestly compliments, "you really didn't need to feed me but it's really nice to eat real food for once" she nervously giggles.

Katsuki narrows his eyes at her, knowing that she's always been cheap when it came to her own nutrition. He really thought that she's grown out of it but he wasn't afraid to admit that his assumption was wrong. It pisses him off to see her not properly taking care of herself. "Come over more often, I'll cook for you" he surprises himself by speaking his inner thoughts out loud.

"Eh?" she tilts her head, confused, until it hits her like a rock, "EH?! What! No! I couldn't impose!" she begins to madly blush at the offer.

"Just think of it as my request from you. You complain that I rarely ask for anything from our agreement so consider this my request" he tries to reason, wanting to see her eat healthier than artificially made, microwaveable convenience store ramen. He's content in whatever way she wants to have him, which is the main reason he never really goes out of his way to request anything.

He watches her calm down from her mini freak out, "well… when you put it that way…" she's about to agree when she stops herself, feeling guilty for the first time in a long time since they first started their weird friendship, "I'll accept but on the days that you don't feel like cooking… feel free to request something you'd like for me to do for you" she twirls on the stool, turning to extend her hand out in his direction to shake on it.

Katsuki was secretly waiting for her to request the things that came to mind for him. Patiently waiting for her to get bolder with the bedroom kinks so this new set of rules didn't really affect him. He'd always want to cook for her while he waits, and waits, and waits to see what her true passionate desires request.

"Deal" he tells her, turning in his stool to shake her smaller hand that fits perfectly in his.

They eat in comfortable silence, Ochako munching on a plate of takoyaki once she finished her curry as she watched him down a second helping of his own curry. "How much spice did you put into that unnaturally red bowl?" she cringes at the sight of him unflinching while scooping spoonful's into his mouth, "the heat is starting to irritate my eyes" she blinks once, twice, showing him the tears forming from his strongly scented curry.

He simply chuckles, "nothing I can't handle, 'Cheeks" he says through a mouthful of rice mixed with hot curry.

She leans into his side, taking them both by surprise when she wipes away at a rice grain stuck on the corner of his soft lips with her padded thumb.

Katsuki tightly grips onto his spoon, feeling it nearly melt in his palm. "What…" he tries to concentrate on his question, "what did you wanna talk about that you couldn't just text me about?"

"Oh!" she hurriedly explains, "Mina and Eijirou have an announcement to make tomorrow night and they want us to go – in fact, they've invited all of our former high school class. Mina's uncle is letting her use his izakaya place and Eijirou said that he's covering for both food and drinks so we won't have to worry on paying"

"Knowing those two idiots, they're probably announcing their exclusivity or some shit" he takes an educated guess on what tomorrow's announcement could be as his heart thumps against his chest.

Sighing, he agrees to the plans. "I'll go but only because there's free food and booze"

"Will… you… uh… be inviting Camie?" she forces herself to ask, knowing that his silent observation on their friends' lives would more than likely be true. Ignoring that, she wants to know if he has any plans on inviting Camie along with them to ease her nagging mind. She knows that he and Camie are just friends but she's never had the courage to ask him personal questions about his past relationships. She only knows what she knows from Eijirou. She knows how he's kissed Camie years ago but that's all there is to say about their history.

"Fuck no" he rolls his eyes, "I never invite her if there's free anything" he tells her, "her ghetto ass is too much to handle sometimes and I'm not in the mood to babysit a grown ass woman"

Ochako lets out a held breath, feeling relieved. "So, it's just me and you going?"

He shrugs, playing it cool, "guess so"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako isn't wearing anything remotely sexy.

Preferring comfy, cute, and modest styles that occasionally show off a bit of skin.

But she can't ignore the way that Bakugou is blatantly staring at her as she walks ahead of him. She's wearing a solid pink t-shirt dress with a black belt with cubic zirconia diamonds decorating the buckle, ripped black leggings and black ankle boots. It was a balanced outfit for the humid weather and the chill that would sure enough be there once the night is over.

Katsuki was sporting a fully black outfit consisting of jeans, belt, boots – his black aji fry shirt with its white letters were the only thing giving a smidge of color to his clothes. He's walking with his hands in his pockets, carefully studying the young woman in front of him. He's fighting with himself to not stare at her curves and ass.

They round the corner, almost reaching their destination when he nearly bumps into Ochako. Her shorter self rests on his hard pectoral muscles. Before he can pretend to be annoyed and ask what's the hold up, his eyes follow hers to the police officer on parking meter duty.

"Oh, this is rich" he mumbles to himself, wishing he had his handy-dandy metal baseball bat here to knock some sense into the asshole a few meters away from there.

"Katsuki… please, don't do anything stupid" Ochako warns him, taking a step forwards to continue their walk towards the izakaya bar.

Shindou sees the pair walking, about to ignore them but seeing Bakugou at her side had rubbed him the wrong way. He clearly remembers the rude way that the blond had refused his kindness when he first introduced himself to class 1-A during the provisional exams.

"Good evening, Ochako!" he speaks up, causing the hairs in the back of Ochako's neck to rise.

She politely bows, "good evening, Yo…" she feels extremely awkward using his given name now. Not having talked to him since she realized that he was only using her. The last time she talked to him was when they had sex – blocking his number from her contacts because she no longer wanted anything to do with him right after that.

"I've uhh…" Shindou rubs the back of his neck, "been trying to get a hold of you but I figured you've been busy" he puts up the nice act, eyes locking onto Bakugou. "Oh, how rude of me! Long time, no see Bakugou-kun!"

Ochako braces herself for an outburst of sorts from the explosive blond. Watching as he makes his way towards Shindou and harshly taps on his chest. "Oi, fucker, drop the -kun. We're not fuckin' friends and never will be" he seethes, getting in the officer's face.

Shindou smiles brightly, briefly apologizing as he slings his arm around the blond's shoulder, "don't make me arrest you on the spot" he sinisterly whispers behind his flashy smile.

Bakugou could almost laugh, feeling his palms heat up, "leave Ochako the fuck alone and we won't have a problem, you discount ¥100 cop" he shrugs him off as Shindou laughs as if he was told the funniest joke in the entire world, "she wasn't even a good fuck" he whispers, squeezing Bakugou's shoulder before letting go.

"Katsuki…" he can hear Ochako's silent plead for him to remain civil.

He knows that Shindou is only trying to get under his skin, still bitter over the fact that he couldn't conquer Ochako. Katsuki badly wants to knock some teeth in, punch his face, melt his work tablet, and kick Shindou where the sun don't shine.

In that moment he thinks of her and not wanting to ruin their night out to hang out with friends by having her bust him out of jail.

"C'mon, Angel Face, we're late" he uses his rarest nickname for her, shoving past Shindou to intertwine his fingers with Ochako's to make it seem as if they were a real couple.

"Okay, have fun! Let's catch up sometime!" Shindou waves, eyes never leaving Ochako's.

Ochako shivers, now being able to tell the difference in his false sense of sincerity.

They lose sight of him, Katsuki never letting go of her hand as he feels her quiver. "I… I… I…" she begins to stutter, getting overwhelmed with emotions, "I haven't… I've been… been ig-ig-ignoring…" she can't form concise thoughts.

He takes her into a nearby alleyway, having her stop against a redbrick wall.

"He's been… been… stalk-st-sta-stalking m-m-me…" she tries to explain what's been going on. It's only been a couple of days since she completely erased Shindou from her life but it's been a living nightmare.

Ochako's made every excuse to have a reason to visit Bakugou during the week. Being too shy to go to Eijirou or Mina to be rescued because she thought that they needed a break from her drama.

"He s-scares me…" she gasps, chanting, "he scares me…" she begins to hyperventilate, abnormally breathing as the tears stream down her face, "I leave… work early… b-b-because I'm terrified" her chest heaves, body convulsing with every shudder, "I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" she gasps loudly, face hot, tears blurring her vision as she visibly panics.

Ochako knows that she looks weak and pathetic but she's never had to deal with something like this before. She knows that he's used to seeing her acting so sure of herself, bubbly, and always in a good mood. This was the second time that he's seen her utterly vulnerable and distressed.

Katsuki gently pushes her against the brick wall, one leg in-between her own wobbly ones. Cupping her face in his hands, he wipes away at her hot tears and keeps her blurry vision on him. He's better at showing his form of comfort through actions. Knowing it's a one-time deal protected by the fact that they have a physical agreement. His heart aches for _more_. Hot coals in his soul demanding a full blazing fire.

"Fuck it!" he yells, leaning down, tilting his head and crashing his lips against hers. He needs her to calm down as she gasps into his mouth, steadily moaning as his hungry lips mold against her own. She's not thinking when she wraps her arms around his neck, wanting him closer, pulling on his clothes to move closer as the kiss deepens.

One hand grips her waist as the other supports him on the wall.

"I won't…" he hotly peppers her jawline, "let anyone ever…" he breathes her in, a scent all Ochako, "hurt you" he vows, moving onto her throat to nip on her pulse point.

She moves her hands to run her fingers in his ash blond hair, gripping on his soft spikes as she moans. Her leg hiking up around his waist, knowing he carries condoms in his wallet as she feels his hands start to explore. "Katsuki… I want…" she gulps, momentarily indulging in the pleasure of having him so close, "you" she breathlessly begs, forgetting that they're in a public alleyway where anyone could see them.

He truly hates himself.

"We can't" he winces, feeling a tight constricting feeling forming below the belt, "those idiots are waiting for us" he reminds her, "we can leave early once they get plastered" he promises, wanting nothing more than to just ditch the party so he could have her in the most sinful of ways. Having no intention of drinking too much at the party.

She comes down from her high, thinking rationally as she adjusts her clothes.

"Thank you for that" she tells him, knowing that she got carried away when he was only trying to prevent her from passing out.

A small twinge pinches her in the pit of her stomach. Not fully knotting up like it tends to but hurting all the same. She's disappointed that they had to stop but for a single moment, she can relax knowing that he's by her side. Hopefully Shindou would get the message that she's moved on even if she and Katsuki aren't really a couple. Just friends.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Hey, guys! – whoa, okay!" Mina gets tugged towards the restroom right as Ochako and Katsuki enter the location.

Eijirou gives Katsuki a confused look as both men shrug and head towards the bar.

Inside the restroom, Ochako frantically bends over to check if the stalls are being used. When she sees that they're the only two currently in there, she relaxes. "I nearly jumped Bakugou in an alleyway" she squeaks out.

Mina doesn't bother to joke about the double meaning of 'getting jumped.' Far more eager to get straight to the nitty gritty of this new juicy gossip. "What are you still doing here? Go finish what you started!" she retains herself from pushing her friend out the door to get the man of her dreams.

She knows that they're both in denial of their true feelings.

"No, you don't understand!" Ochako starts pacing around the tiled restroom, "He was only trying to stop me from hyperventilating to the point of passing out… he kissed me and I got freakin' horny!" she drags her palms down her cheeks, "Maybe I'm coming down with something? Yeah! I must be sick" she balls her hand into a fist and hits her chest to cough, "or I could be delusional that he would do it… but I'm not an exhibitionist!" she internally battles with herself as Mina places a hand on her hip and patiently waits for her to stop mumbling to herself.

"You're starting to pick up on Izuku's bad habits," she jokes, "Ochako, it's okay to…" she hesitates, not wanting to say that it's okay for her to like Katsuki because then she'd only get a rejection confirming her suspecting denial of her friend's true feelings. "You're a fine piece of ass and he's hot…" Mina shrugs as if it's the easiest problem to solve, "It's only natural to be attracted to him and you two have that whole friends with benefits deal… so what's the problem?"

"I almost had sex in a public alleyway, that's the problem!" Ochako dramatically cries, feeling like she's become some sexually insatiable deviant or something.

Mina clicks her tongue and shakes her head, "oh my sweet little Ochako…" she closes her hands and opens them to gesture for her to come into her opened arms.

Ochako sluggishly makes her way towards her taller friend, placing her forehead against Mina's shoulder as she's rocked in her friend's arms. "If you want to be senselessly fucked by Katsuki then what better place than in a dark alleyway at night!" she whispers into Ochako's ear.

"MINA!" she screeches, nearly floating up from the vibrant red blush that nearly causes her to activate her quirk on herself as her arms flail around.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

At the bar, Katsuki orders an asahi beer while Eijirou orders his usual kirin lager.

"I nearly shoved my tongue down Round Face's throat before arriving here" he seriously says, staring down at his beer bottle.

Eijirou nearly chokes from his drink. "Dude…" he coughs, rendered speechless.

"Just, don't. Okay?" Katsuki frowns, "I'm not in the mood for your bullshit wisdom"

He watches the red-head struggle with himself, caught between keeping his word to not comment and wanting to call his best friend an idiot. Eijirou has known for _years_ that Katsuki didn't have just a simple crush on the gravity defying girl. He's in love and still denying himself the pleasure of feeling the one missing emotion from his workaholic bachelor lifestyle.

"Oh look, it's one half of the newlywed couple" Katsuki speaks up, pointing his beer towards Denki who's making his way towards them.

"Hey, guys!" Denki greets, calling the bartender over to order a suntory malt.

Katsuki looks over to Eijirou with a raised brow, "does he sound chipper to you or am I having hearing problems?"

Eijirou smirks, getting up to wrap an arm around Denki's shoulder, "guess who finally got laid!" he pulls him down by the neck to rustle his blond hair, meshing the black of his lighting bolt streak in the process. "C'mon! Can't a guy still ride a high after a kick ass honeymoon?! Besides… I wasn't a virgin…" he groans, tapping on Eijirou's one arm pinning him down as he watched Eijirou take a long chug of beer with his other.

"Please tell me you haven't knocked Kyouka up yet" Katsuki turns to face the two idiots in front of him, silently begging that this wasn't why Denki was practically bouncing off the walls.

Denki gets freed from the playful chokehold, fixing his hair, "are you two still betting on me being the last of the squad to have a kid?"

Katsuki and Eijirou look at each other and nod at him, "hell yeah!"

"Oh, screw you guys both!" Denki rolls his eyes with a chuckle escaping his lips, "at least I was the first to get married" he sticks out his tongue at both of them.

They both lazily flip him off, never betting on who would get hitched first. Eijirou and Katsuki were the only two betting high stakes on Denki being the last to have a kid in their friend group. Meanwhile everyone else was betting on him to be the first to.

"Eijirou is a lover of too damn many so I'm surprised that you don't already have some unknown kid running around…" Denki points at the red-head with his beer, "and Katsuki can practically have any woman drop their panties for him so…" he turns to point at the other blond, "how the hell have you two not lost this stupid bet?!"

"We're just that good" they say in unison, clinking their glass beer bottles together while leaning against the bar's counter.

Denki gives up on them, knowing that those two have the strongest competitive streak in their group.

Eijirou and Mina were too wild and sporadic with dating each other and others to consider settling down to start a family just yet. Katsuki was too much of a bachelor practically married to his job to think of changing his lifestyle anytime soon. Hanta Sero, their missing member was the most private out of the bunch, always dodging questions about having a significant other that whenever he said he did – none of them ever believed him because they've never met anyone from him. Kyouka was their honorary member whom Denki is very much happily married to and very much in love with.

When he thinks deeply about his friend group, he starts to realize: they're all a mess.

"So, who's here?" Denki asks, feeling like he's been out of the loop while he's been away on his honeymoon.

"Everyone except for Hanta who had to fly out to Osaka last night for work and Mineta" Eijirou informs him.

"What's Mineta's excuse?" Denki curiously asks, not having heard of Minoru Mineta since they graduated years ago from U.A.

"Little grape bastard's too busy filming his next porno" Katsuki cringes, washing the thought away with a long drink of his nearly empty beer.

"Wait, hold up, Mineta works in _that_ industry?" Denki feels like his mind's just been blown. Truth be told, none of them were really surprised but verbally hearing it was something else.

"Yeah, he boasts about it nonstop online that I had to block him" Eijirou shrugs, "yet the poor guy still can't land a girlfriend"

"Damn…" Denki exhales, taking a sip of his own beer.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Okay ladies, enough of the gossip!" Mina comes waltzing over their way to hand Eijirou a thick black booklet of songs. "Let's all karaoke! Battle of the sexes!" she announces, handing Katsuki a mic and giving Denki a hug and kiss on the cheek before handing him a mic.

"Fuck no! I ain't singing" Katsuki tells her, handing his mic to Ochako who was meekly following Mina behind like a lost chick.

"Oh okay, I wouldn't want to compete against me either" Mina taunts him, as he ignores the provocation to order another beer and side of yakitori.

"Sure, I'm down" Eijirou says, setting the book down on the bar counter, "but first, shouldn't we let everyone know why we've invited them here?"

"Oh, right! Thanks, babe" she tells him with a quick peck to his lips. Mina then walks over to a middle table and stands on top of it as she gains the rooms attention.

"Thank you all for coming out tonight! I know we haven't seen each other whether it's been days, months, years but it's so good to see you all!" Mina begins, crouching down to get her kirin beer from the table while Eijirou crowds her to make sure she doesn't fall. "You're all probably wondering why Ei and I have invited you here tonight…" she pauses, straightening up to take in the entire place.

Ochako silently sits down next to Katsuki as he digs into the skewers of grilled marinated chicken.

Mina takes a deep breath as she looks down at Eijirou who's holding onto her ankles to make sure she doesn't come flying down. "I know that most of you don't care about our complicated relationship so it's just nice to be reunited as adults," she braces herself, "Ei and I have decided to settle down. No more open relationship, we want to focus on us now and hopefully sometime in the future we can invite you all to our wedding and… who knows, maybe a baby shower down the line. That's all, okay, enjoy the night! We'll be starting karaoke soon!" she announces as she jumps into Eijirou's secure arms, fully kissing him as their closer friends cheered for the couple.

"Ha, see, I called it!" Katsuki leans in to whisper into Ochako's ear, "Pay up"

She grumbles, digging into her wristlet for money, handing him ¥1,700.

"You two were betting on their announcement?" Denki shakes his head, feeling sorry for the brunette. "This is why we can never play poker with Katsuki" he tells her with a chuckle.

Ochako giggles at the electric quirked man, telling him that there's no doubt that, that can't be any fun. Katsuki was too good in almost everything he does.

She jumps off the bar stool, "I'm going to go sing" she tells Katsuki, taking his discarded mic and heads towards the stage.

His eyes hotly trail over her figure, licking his lips.

"Dude, you've got it bad" even Denki can see the attraction between the two friends.

"Shut it" Katsuki warns, taking a swig of his second beer.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako moaned as her back hit the cool of the sleek modern designed wall of the outside of his apartment.

"Ka… Kat… suki…" she arched her back, chest touching his closer as her hands roamed through his spiky hair.

Katsuki held her tightly against the hallway's wall as he marked her entire neck and chest with hickeys.

Maybe it was the five beers, three shots of vodka, and sip of red wine he had at the party that's keeping him pleasantly buzzed and in-need of her touch wanting to pick up from where they left off in the alleyway.

He had a promise to keep.

"B-bed-d-room-m?" Ochako panted as her wrapped legs squeezed him tighter while he struggles to get his keys out of his pocket to fully enter his place.

Katsuki groaned, barely managing to confirm right as he found his keys and battled with his jingling keys to insert the right one into the keyhole.

Quickly finding the right key, he twists his door open and lifted her up from slipping, stumbling with Ochako feverishly attacking his lips. He nearly loses his balance from stepping over the genkan of the entryway, unable to properly take his shoes off in the designated location.

They started to lose articles of clothing as he managed to guide their joint bodies down the hallway to his bedroom while knocking over a couple of things in the process.

A room with two doors, one leading to a large bathroom to the far left and the other leading to a walk-in closet to the far right, in the center, there's a wide drawer and on top a t.v. mounted on the wall with a spacious bed covered in black silk covers, a few personal items decorating the surrounding walls, large windows with sheer curtains brought in light to the dark room. The opened curtains of his windows were overlooking his neighborhood of Asakusa and in the distance, a lit-up Tokyo Tower could be seen.

Katsuki fell first on to the cloud-like bed with Ochako right on top of him. Maybe it was the five jello-shots, two glasses of red wine and the one jägerbomb Mina had dared her to down that caused herself to wind down, let loose, and give into her inner most desires but most of all, she feels safe in his arms.

Ochako wholeheartedly giggled uncontrollably to the point she tried to cover both hands to her mouth to make her stop. She was stripped down to her cutely pink and black polka dotted bra (that has a tiny pink bow in the middle) and black ripped leggings desperately clinging onto her hips as he tugged and pulled on them, knowing they wouldn't come off until he puts all his efforts in his buzzed state to get her ankle boots off first.

Katsuki shows her a rare genuine smile, smiling up at her. Adoring her adorable laughter and clumsiness as he caressed her cheek with his right hand. He was stripped down to nothing but his unbuttoned jeans with his crimson boxer briefs peeking out and white socks.

She deeply blushed at the gesture as Ochako realized she was straddling her former high school classmate. It's a position that they've been in before but in her buzz, she's feeling embarrassed and extra shy about sleeping with him because they're in the mood and not because it's directly a request as per their agreement.

Ochako wasn't allowed to think more about it as Katsuki brought her head down to meet his and smacked their lips together in open-mouthed kisses. "Shit, you're beautiful" he tells her through breathless trailing kisses, claiming her as his, if only for a moment. The hunger and boldness that was fueled by their alcohol intake sparked once again. All traces of worry and doubt that lingered in her head now vanishing from sight.

He makes her feel loved and wanted; treasured, if only for a moment of lustful need.

Silently the coals burning as small embers begin to engulf themselves into wispy flames within him.

Her own knotted feelings in the pit of her stomach start to unwind, finding their place, slowly starting to make more sense within her.

Ochako was left gasping and moaning the entire night.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Uhuhuhu. Everyone but Katsuki and Ochako can see what's happening here.

Mina is a wild card, it's always fun getting to write her.

This is the last of Shindou appearing, didn't want to make him super ooc.

More fluff is looming on the horizon!

Next Time: The Wedding Pt. II

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	11. The Wedding Pt II

AN: Thank you for being patient with me! I took a break from this story due to participating in Kacchako Positivity Week! All seven one-shots are compiled together into one single story (go check it out, fam!) but WAIT! there's more! I also wrote a (10k+) long one-shot, _Here With Me_ , AND started on a mini story, _Singularity_. There, I've fed y'all a wholesome amount of Kacchako (sprinkled with Kirimina and Tododeku). This fic right here is my main priority of course so enough of my ramblings! I'll try my best to update soon again, whenever I'm not drowning in college homework. /Cry.

Enjoy the spice and catch dem feels.

Happy reading~ :D

The Wedding Pt. II

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

 _Strong arms hook her thighs against his biceps. A feral growl erupts from his throat to disguise his own noises of pleasure._

" _Say my name" he orders, getting a high from hearing her panting and moaning, struggling to answer._

 _It's like a bedroom powerplay; one he secretly indulges in by making her crack – taking her over the edge to that brink of no return. He'd never verbally admit that he treats her differently than all his past experiences. Seeing her unwind from his doing, does something more to him than just_ _pet_ _his ego._

" _Ka… Ka… Katsuki…" she loudly moans against his ear, digging half-crescent nail indents into his raw toned flesh. Each scratch reddening his skin until the sting becomes a pleasure all on its own._

Katsuki is the first to wake up, regretting his bright idea to lift himself as if he hadn't just had one hell of a night. His head immediately starts to pound feeling like his brain was rattling against his skull. The logical side of him tells him to cool it and find medicine in his bathroom but he can't be bothered when all he craves is coffee.

Before getting out of bed, he turns to his side to see the peaceful sight of Ochako snoozing away while covered in his sheets. Her bangs covered her eyes but the smile placed on her soft lips was evident. It makes his stomach coil up when he knows that he's the cause of it. Her own chest and body peppered with hickeys and marks. Shifting his shared portion of his sheets to get up makes her side get dragged, almost giving him a full view of her naked breasts.

He knows that he needs to get the hell up and shower before his own hormones initiate a round two. Once he slips out of the bed and quietly entered his bathroom, he winces at his sensitive skin. Twisting his torso to check his back in the mirror, he lets a small puff of air escape his lips. Not quite a whistle but something along the lines of being impressed.

Ochako sure did a number on his back. It looked like a bear had mauled him. He mentally chuckles at the thought to mask the thumping in his throat from his heart signaling that his ego had been stroked. That wasn't all that was stroked last night…

From the sight of her own body, he also lost a bit of control. They had boundaries per their agreement but all of them had been voided for one single night.

Showering and shaving, he gets ready for the day. As usual, whenever she spends the night over, he likes to cook a breakfast for two. Lately, he's been letting her help out more in the kitchen with the pancakes getting a kick out of her making clumpy weird shapes with a pouty face. She tells him that they're meant to be cute animals but he just laughs and tells her they look like inkblots used for psychological tests.

He enters his bedroom again to see that Ochako had completely taken over his bed. Changing positions to take over his side, tangling the sheets between her legs while her chest was left exposed. He groans at the sight, wanting nothing more than wish in that moment that she was his. He'd ravage her to wake her up but they're just friends. He respects her and her trust, restraining himself from crossing any lines.

He goes to his drawer to find boxers, opening the top to see her few personal undergarments neatly folded in there. Taking whichever boxers he sees first, he quickly shuts the drawer and ignores the reality of their strange dynamic.

She confessed that she was too shy at first to spend the night at his place whenever they slept together because she didn't want to freak him out by accidentally activating her quirk on him. He rolled his eyes, playfully tapping her forehead to make sure he had her full attention and told her that it wasn't a big deal. It still made her feel unsure and shrink back from his presence until he, while hiding a blush, told her that she was free to bring whatever would make her feel more comfortable to his place. Thankful for his unexpected generosity, agreed to only bring a few absolutely necessary items of clothes and toiletries, not wanting to impose on him in any way.

He scoffed and told her that he lives alone in a big ass luxurious apartment, he's got plenty of room for her stuff. True to her word, she kept her invasion of his bachelor's pad to a minimal but what little bit of her personal things that were scattered about his apartment slowly started to bring a feminine presence into the place. The only other female to visit him was Camie but she never left anything, only ever really stealing from him. Ochako's personality rang loud and clear to him from her products and girlish/sporty clothes. Whenever he was left alone, the silence echoed, bouncing off the walls save for the lingering intrusion of the young woman he's involved with intimately but not his own lover to keep.

Ochako was embedded into the very character of his bachelor's pad: from the entrance, living room, kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, and most of all – his bedroom. The more they had sex, the more his sheets and pillows began smelling like her. No matter how much he washed everything. Ochako was embedded deep within his core. It wasn't just the materialistic things but also in himself. She made him desire a life that he's long ago told to fuck off. Passion and a one-tracked mind drove him towards his goals and ambitions. Never seeing the benefit of falling in love. The more time he spent with her, despite most of those times being within his four walls. The more he came to the realization of his denial.

Katsuki's in love.

Has been since his high school years for her but suppressed his feelings until that one chance encounter at his friend's wedding caused his balloon of pent up emotions to suddenly burst. One look, one date, and one (eager) agreement and he knew he's set himself up for disaster.

It's in these internal mental struggles with himself that he can't help but think in the negative. She deserves so much more than what he can give her. Clearly all these assholes that she's been casually dating and testing out the waters with weren't doing it for her. The one and only one that she saw potential in, that prick Shindou, had ended being the type of man that Katsuki utterly detests. He's about ready to snatch her for himself but how can he when they've started their reunion in such a way? They practically cut the time to get to know each other and went straight for the sex. Going backwards now to fix their wrongs seemed impossible.

He's trying to be her supportive friend but it's slowly killing him on the inside.

Katsuki puts on a simple orange shirt on, hops into black jeans and weaves a belt through the loops and buckles it securely on his waist. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he rolls on a pair of white socks, biting his inner cheek _hard_ when he feels Ochako stir in his bed while mumbling his name out with a soft giggle laced with a moan. The hot burning coals nurse a growing flame in the pit of his soul, tightly coiling his stomach as the memories of last night come flooding back. Getting up, he goes to put on deodorant and cologne before finally stepping out of his dangerous bedroom.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako pleasantly wakes up to the wafting smells of breakfast foods being cooked. Getting up with a small wince, she quickly wraps her body with the sheets getting a strong smell of hers and Katsuki's unique mixed scent.

It causes her to furiously blush, still in disbelief at how wild they got last night. Sleeping with him always led to adventurous positions but last night… last night had been something else. She's basking in the memories until one horrifying truth dawns on her.

They didn't use protection.

And for the life of her, she can't remember if she even took her birth control.

She knows there's a solution, morning after pills were made for these little hiccups. But for one minuscule of a second, she allows herself to dream of the possibility. Groaning, she shakes her head a second later not wanting Mina's words to haunt her. She wasn't going to take her chances and ruin what she has with Katsuki. A child to love, to fill the void of what she most desires for in this world wouldn't solve any of her problems. Yes, she'd finally have someone to love but it'd only create even more heartache.

Last night had been beyond amazing but it also left her feeling confused. In the end, she justifies what happened by the fact that Katsuki was being her friend. Comforting her when she needed it the most. It was a free-pass in their arrangement. Nothing more, nothing less and that thought makes her heart sink for reasons she's still working to figure out.

She takes a shower and puts on a simple pink summer dress, feeling too sensitive to wear anything that rubs against her skin.

With a skip to her step, she reminds herself to not overthink things. She'd deal with her freaking out later once she's alone. Greeting Katsuki in the kitchen, she plops down on a stool and leans forward on the counter to fully inhale the cooking meats, eggs and pancakes. The best part about spending the night at his apartment was always looking forward to his western menus. She basically lives off of dehydrated miso packets and frozen mackerel and natto. The change in food was always welcomed.

"Got any plans today, Pink Cheeks?" he casually asks, timing his pancake flips without turning to look at her.

She stretches her arms with a soft yawn escaping her lips, "bridal party duties for Tsu's big day"

Katsuki rolls his eyes, "fun"

Ochako giggles. "Hours upon hours of being surrounded by fancy fabrics, stuffing my face in various cakes, and sneezing at whatever flower has the highest pollen count. It is in fact, fun" she exhales a large whiff of his food, impatiently salivating in her seat.

He turns around with skillet in hand, nearly missing the side of the plate pre-placed in front of her. She's gorgeous with radiant, glowing, morning-kissed skin, damp hair, and those innocent owlish eyes he adores. She tilts her head, silently wondering why he's staring at her in a way that feels different than their usual glances.

"Thank you, Katsuki. For everything" she lifts the plate up to make sure he doesn't miss his aim when placing the assortment of foods.

She's talking about last night, after they drunkenly left the izakaya. Katsuki was ranting about how he doesn't like the fact that she has someone like Shindou stalking her. In her courageous stupor, she's yelling down the street, arm hooked with his and declaring that she ought to give him a piece of her mind. He nods with a roar of 'hell yeah!' that causes dogs in the distance to bark and howl. But when they walk past a still opened electronics store, he resorts to getting her a new phone instead. In her buzzed state, she doesn't think of the cost and lets him do it while having the freedom to pick whatever color and model she wanted.

He told her, he'd buy her the moon and stars if he could but that only made her laugh heartily and shake her head, saying that a new phone number for the expensive gift would do. After their purchase, they merrily talked in circles around each other, making no sense as they laughed in each other's company. Once they reached his apartment, she bravely asked if they could pick up from where they last left off in the alleyway. In no time, he hoisted her up and stupidly kissed her until they were clawing at each other's clothes to get them off. Even with all the alcohol in her system, she knows what they were doing and what she asked for. He had no objections, giving her everything she's ever wanted from a relationship – but as friends who've gone past that invisible line.

"Don't… uhh…" she studies the way he licks his lips, "don't sweat it" he gulps, pivoting around again to dump his pan in the sink and allow him a moment to catch his breath.

She looks down to grab her fork when she notices the faint traces of teeth marks left on her hand remembering how that got there. Katsuki had latched onto her hand in-between that junction of her thumb and index finger when she used her quirk on them to flip their positions. She had covered his mouth when he let out a string of expletives at the sudden switch. But he still made her furiously blush and let out her own moans when he told her how good it felt. Blushing while staring down at the fork, she tries to tune out the way he arched his back, gripped her hips, and succumbed to her control.

" _Shit…"_

" _Fuck me, Ochako…"_

Ochako's face flushes as she shakily grabs her fork and stuffs her face with the food. Her cheeks look like a chipmunk preparing for hibernation. She nearly chokes when she reaches for her lukewarm cup of coffee. Pounding a fist against her chest, she dramatically swallows down the chunk of food and gets up to go wash her plate.

"I really should get going! Don't wanna be late for the gown appointment!" she hurriedly informs Katsuki, running towards the genkan to put on her black ankle boots before throwing the door open to leave.

She barely hears him yell at her to not slam the door shut as she scurries off while pulling out her brand-new phone from her dress pocket.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako texts Mina with her new number, telling her to not get alarmed by it. Mina texts back that she demands to know what the hell happened once she had left with Bakugou. She promises to spill all once she makes it to the appointment.

Tsuyu had just recently moved back to Tokyo, having been away in the rain forests of the amazon. She and Fumikage had announced their engagement via social media, having no time or way to gather everyone's individual home addresses on time for the date they've already set.

The news of one of her long-time best friends' getting hitched both excited and depressed her. There goes another person tying the knot long before she'll ever get the chance to. She's incapable of feeling bitter with the slight headache she has from last night's activities. Normally a bottle of wine would help solve all her 'miserably alone' problems.

She loves Tsuyu with all her heart but hates hanging around bridal shops. Ochako wonders when she'll stop being a bridesmaid and be the bride. She longs for silks, laces, ruffles, and chiffons. She longs for her group of female friends to crowd around her while clinking champagne. She longs for the way her husband looks at her as if she's the only one in the world. She longs for the wedding experience but with no groom in sight, she can't possibly get ahead of herself. Hell, sometimes she even longs for a shotgun wedding due to an unexpected pregnancy.

Which is exactly what this is.

Ochako arrived barely on time, giving hugs and kissing cheeks as she took her flute of champagne and settled herself on a white quilt-stitch leather ottoman. Tsuyu was getting fitted into one lace dress with a web-like design when the short frog-quirked woman speaks up. "Thank you for making it here, girls. I know that this wedding seems a bit rushed but it has to be since I'm expecting, _kero~_ "

Mina is the first to chug down her third flute of champagne as she jumps up. "AHH! YOU'RE PREGNANT?!" she screeches like an overly ecstatic banshee.

Eijirou like usual was the only male who enjoys being part of these things. He leans over to Ochako to whisper. "Wait, how the hell does this work? A frog and a bird having a baby?"

Their group of friends are all too busy surrounding Tsuyu as they all congratulate her and feel the tiniest of bumps that is her stomach to notice the only two that hadn't gotten up. Ochako glides her hand over Eijirou's back and pinches him, "don't be rude, Ei!" she harshly whispers back.

She's also wondering the same thing but the overwhelming crushing notion that her best friend is experiencing everything she so badly wants for herself causes her to ignore the questioning logic of things.

When the others disperse from the scene, Ochako places her empty glass on a tray and goes to congratulate her friend. "I'm so, so, so happy for you, Tsu!" she sincerely tells her while biting down on her quivering lip.

"That means a lot, Ochako-chan!" Tsuyu tearfully says with a warm smile on her face.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako returned home at a reasonable hour from an emotionally exhausting day. Ready to turn the corner of the stairs to reach her hallway, she suddenly retreats back. She sees Shindou waiting at her door with a convenience store plastic bag, presumably waiting for her so they can eat whatever he's brought. She knows it's an excuse to talk to her.

She has no energy left in her to deal with him. Knowing that the little chance encounter they had the previous night wasn't going to be the end of her turmoil. He blew up her old phone with text message after text message all varying in different tones. The first came off apologetic for his actions and the more she kept him waiting, the more his texts came off as demanding that she makes her presence known to him. Luckily she had set her phone settings to where he couldn't see if she's read his messages or not, leaving him completely clueless. Oh, she's seen his texts alright and wanted nothing to do with him. Having sex with him was a mistake. She was a fool to think for one second that he ever truly cared about her.

Ochako's the type to love deeply and passionately. Sometimes thinking that that'd be her downfall when it comes to seeking a relationship. She's serious when her partners hadn't been. Shindou was in a realm categorized all on his own. Katsuki had warned her during one of their late-night pillow talks once she told him everything about the stalking. She knows he was trying to give her friendly advice, which she took because it's not like she could openly tell him how she wished he was there to protect her.

She's a big girl.

She can handle this.

But not right now when all she wants to do is slip off her boots, throw her dress off to freely walk around her apartment in her bra and panties, and throw a plate of whatever frozen dinners she has into the microwave.

Taking a step back, she goes back down the same five flights of stairs all the way down. She whistles for a taxi and heads over to Katsuki's place.

Reaching his place, she's about to knock on his door when the front door opens to reveal Camie dressed in her work uniform. "Byeee, totes love you mah dude! Thanks for dinner!" she's saying as Katsuki's gruff voice yells for her to get the hell out.

Closing the door, Camie turns around and jumps back, "Oh! Uraraka! What a total shocker!" she greets while holding a stacked bento box. "Are you one of Bakubro's booty calls?" she gasps as a wide grin spreads across her face. "Make sure you ask him to use the flavored condoms, okay? From the few I've stolen, they taste like shit in my opinion, but it's fun to have a cherry scented dic–"

"Ah, sorry I'm not here for that Utsushimi-san!" Ochako scrambles to squeak out. She knows that Camie tends to raid Katsuki's apartment for things from what he's told her in the past but hearing Camie take from his sex stash was news to her.

"Who the hell's loitering outside my door?! I'm trying to fuckin' watch the news!" Katsuki nearly unhinges his door from the bolts when his eyes widened at the sight of Ochako and Camie both outside his apartment.

"You, get back to fuckin' work before someone croaks over from your dumbass not being there to answer the damn phone!" he grabs Camie by the shoulders to give her a light push forwards to show her the elevator down the hallway. "And you! Get the hell in here!" he grabs Ochako by the wrist and pulls her into his place, slamming the door behind them.

Locking both the deadbolt and the bottom lock, he's about to deal with Ochako when he feels paranoid at Camie coming back to bug him. He tugs on the gold chain attached to the top lock and slides it into place to make sure Camie can't easily use her spare key to intrude. Turning around, he crosses his arms over his black tank wearing chest and leans in to narrow his eyes at Ochako.

"Aren't you supposed to be partying it up at a bachelorette party or some shit, Sweet Cheeks?"

"Tsuyu didn't want one. We just ran errands for the wedding…"

"Okay, so why didn't you call or text me that you were coming over? I didn't get you a new phone just so it can look pretty"

"Sorry, Katsuki… I should uh… just… go home, I don't want to ruin your night"

Ochako knew this was a bad idea. While he hadn't set hours or a curfew on when she can come to his place for one of their nightly horizontal dates or just to hang out – he was clearly not in the greatest mood, most likely due to having Camie over. She assumes from the stacked bento, that Camie had forced Katsuki to make her dinner. She can't lie and say that she's come for the same reason. Sure, she hasn't eaten since her small lunch at the bistro that nearly made her go broke if it wasn't for Eijirou and Mina covering her portion but she wasn't here to have sex either…

She was just looking for a place to hide from Shindou. Which she could've done at any of the various internet cafes that were opened until the late hours of the night. She should've just ordered a hot tea and a small snack and wait out until Shindou passed by the street, remembering his route of travel.

No, instead she decided to subconsciously seek out Katsuki who was in no way obligated to be her knight in shining armor. It was a depressing thought, really. Eijirou and Mina deserved alone time to do their own thing now that they're an established couple.

Ochako's a big girl.

She should've handled this situation differently.

She's about to undo the chained lock when Katsuki stops her by cupping her smaller hand in his over the lock. "You should've given me a heads up so I know how much food to make. Camie basically wiped me clean but I can still cook for you"

"Katsuki, no!" she whips around, nearly smacking their lips together as he pins her against the front door. "I'm… already feeling guilty for coming over…"

A hard ruby glare stares back into her watering brown topaz orbs. "Spill, Angel Face" his voice softens, tip of his index finger tilting her chin up as he patiently waits for her to tell him the reason why she was looking for him.

"He… he was waiting for me at my apartment" she briefly closes her eyes feeling her heart racing from how scared she is of confrontation. It wasn't the same type of fear that she's felt in the past when dealing with villains. That was more of an adrenaline rush. This on the other hand was much more personal and predatorial. "He didn't see me, I saw him before he could and I just… ran away" she slowly explains to ease his troubled mind, knowing that he'd ask her if she dealt with him.

"That motherfucker…" he angrily whispers to himself.

She flutters her eyes opened and frowns, "I'm fine, he's probably left by now… I really should get going" she bites her tongue back from asking him what she's really wanting to ask. She wants to stay, wants to know that for one single night that she'll be safe even if it's not directly in his arms but she'll be here with him.

He pulls back from their close proximity as he thinks of his options. Ochako's just glad that his blood's not boiling and that he hasn't had an explosive reaction. His trance allows her to get the deadbolt unlocked. Reaching for the bottom, she twists the doorknob and gets the door to slightly open.

Katsuki presses a palm against the door, shutting it again as he speaks up. "Stay. I'll make you dinner and we can watch a movie before going to bed" he tells her in such a way that sounds like his word is final with no room for discussion.

She's not in the mood to argue with him as she meekly nods her head and goes to take off her boots. Ochako knows she still has clean clothes in his closet and drawers and can borrow pajamas from him. Entering his room, she leaves the bedroom's door opened to hear him down the hall. His voice loud enough to project from any of his walls.

"You're the best, Katsuki!" she leans her head towards the door to call out while she's shimmying off her dress to change into something a bit more comfortable for the night.

She hears him a second later once chopping on a cutting board stops in the kitchen, "what are friends for?"

Ochako smiles at his words even as her stomach gets filled with butterflies. Right, they were friends and friends had each other's backs no matter what. Her brain reasons that everything that Katsuki has done for her is because they're friends. Though her heart wasn't easily convinced.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Katsuki's still stuck on vacation time off.

Still, he woke up at his usual time and prepped both breakfast and lunch for Ochako. She gushed at the array of foods as he rolled his eyes and scoffed by saying that if he couldn't do this much then he's failed his mother who nurtured his love of cooking.

She thanks him while running about with a piece of toast in her mouth and a layered bento placed in a plastic bag. Assuring him that she has emergency work clothes shoved into a locker at work, she thanks him one last time while munching around the buttered toast. He helps her by opening the front door and tells her to get going before she's late for work while trying not to blush. For a small fraction of a moment, he's feeling like they're a newly wed couple.

Ochako runs out, promising to text him once she's made it back to her own apartment once she gets off work.

He sees her off, watching as the elevator dings with doors opening to take her downstairs.

Shaking his head at their morning, he goes back to the kitchen to clean up the mess he's made. Listening to a mixed playlist on his phone, he's scrubbing away at his stove when he hears his doorbell going off. Katsuki sighs, throwing his cleaning rag on the stove and washes his hands before making his way towards the front.

Opening his door, his face muscles strain as he grits his teeth, feeling his hands pool with heat.

"The fuck are you doing here?!" he yells while grinding his teeth, temple beginning to throb.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Next Time: The Matriarch

Oh boy was this another packed chapter. I know that there wasn't much of a wedding per say… but it'll carry over onto the next chapter! And poor Katsuki's made to suffer. Uhuhuhu.

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	12. The Matriarch

AN: Y'all are getting spoiled as I procrastinate my homework. Uhuhuhu. Here's your daily dose of FEELS! And thank you for the continued support! I'm glad that this story still has an audience even if it'll take me a tad bit longer to churn out chapters now that summer's over.

Happy reading~ :D

The Matriarch

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Is that any way to greet your mother, you Lil' Shit?" an older female makes her way into his apartment, wearing a black mink coat and rounded sunglasses. Her hair the same ash blonde as his; spiky but longer at a medium length barely touching her shoulders.

"You haven't reported back to me in over three months. The deal was to call or text me at least once a month just to make sure you're still fuckin' alive" she drops her coat onto his floor, turning her neck to tell him to pick it up.

Grumbling, Katsuki picks up the mink coat and spits out, "I can't deal with you right now!" as he smooths over the fur before carefully placing it over his couch.

He didn't have any major plans for the day other than get his house chores done and then walk over to the nearest grocery store a few blocks down to go buy ingredients for tonight's dinner. But he just doesn't want to deal with his mom's nagging. Especially when she only ever comes to visit him to ask one annoying ass question that drives him crazy.

His mother, Mitsuki Bakugou, is for lack of a better word: fashion royalty. She and his father, Masaru Bakugou's designs started to become huge hits in the later years of his schooling years. They had kept their jobs working under a decently known hero costume company until he went off to college. In a matter of months, the Bakugou brand was the talk of the town especially with newbie heroes – that helped boost their sales. It gave them that little push forward to quit their old jobs and start up their own company. Ever since they started their own business from the ground up, there hasn't gone a day when orders weren't flooding in. With his parent's busy schedule, it made it harder to visit them as frequently as he used to.

Katsuki was a busy guy too, dealing with high stakes fires and rescues. There just wasn't enough time in a day for personal visits or calls. His parents only ever get to see him whenever he's featured on national television.

"You can't spare your own mother, who, should I remind you, you ungrateful Punk – was in labor _suffering_ for a good thirty hours because you were too fuckin' cozy in the womb and didn't want to come out?"

She hears Katsuki grunt as he walked towards the kitchen. He hates whenever she pulls the labor card on him. He never has a good excuse to defend himself, allowing her to do whatever the hell she wants when she wins.

Mitsuki takes off her sunglasses tucking them into the front of her ivory ruffled blouse. She inspects her son's spacious apartment from her spot at the entrance. It's clean, organized, and a bit too drab for her liking with his dull color choices. Her eyes travel around not seeing anything new since she last visited until she seats herself on the front step to take off her black stiletto pumps. There, she notices a pair of smaller sized house slippers in pink.

Raising a curious brow, she neatly places her pumps next to them. Without saying a word, she gets up smoothing her black pencil skirt and heads over to the kitchen area, giving her son a silent questioning look. She's itching to interrogate him which she knows he's clearly expecting from the way she watches him suddenly gulp.

Oh, she can read her son like a book.

Slowly, he's about to turn off the kettle he put on the stove to boil as she takes a step to her side. She notices a new small potted plant on a shelf above the sink – mini white roses in a hand painted pot. It came off as feminine and further feeding her growing suspicions.

They have a staring contest, both moving at a snail's pace until Mitsuki makes a mad dash for it. She uses her moisturizer quirk to make the floor slippery, stopping Katsuki from chasing after her without losing his balance.

"MOM!" he roars, running after her a second later, dodging the slippery floor. She's already in his bedroom, slamming the door in his face. He groans when he hears the lock click inside as he places his head against the door and tries to rattle the doorknob.

Mitsuki laughs victoriously as she taps her fingertips together with newfound mischievous energy. First thing she does in the room is check his bathroom where she finds a pink toothbrush and a few feminine scented products. With a wide grin, she returns into the main room and rummages through his clothes.

Katsuki's heart skips a beat as he gives up on rattling the door open. When he hears a loud squeal from inside the room, he knows that he's fucked.

His mom opens the door a moment later, leaning against the doorframe, she's grinning from ear to ear. "Unless you've got some secret kink of crossdressing you wanna 'fess up to," she's trying to contain her fit of excited laughter, "then explain to me, what you're doing with sexy pink frilly lingerie" she shows him the panties from a set.

Katsuki runs his fingers through his hair, pulling on the strands of short blond hair as he looks away from her waiting gaze. His hand falls to the back of his neck as he nervously rubs his skin still remaining silent as she twirls Ochako's panties around her index finger.

Damn that Round Face and her love of pink. And damn him for growing flustered at just the sight of that lingerie, remembering what memories it brought with it.

He'd die first before ever telling his own mother what he's been up to. While his mom gets under his skin all the damn time and riles him up – he knows that it comes from a place of love. She loves her son unconditionally and while he reserves his verbal 'I love you's' to only mother's day once a year – she knows that he loves her too. But he can't break her heart by telling her the truth nor lying to her about what's really going on and why his apartment is littered with a few feminine things.

It wouldn't be fair to either his mom or Ochako.

"Are you currently seeing someone? Is she cute? Oh, what am I saying, of course she is!" she begins rambling, "Are you serious about her? When can I meet her? Do you have pictures?" she's staring him down with hopeful ruby eyes, "Katsuki, I'm almost fifty. I want grandkids to spoil the shit out of"

Katsuki deeply sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I…" he struggles to give her something, anything to get her off his case.

Kids with Ochako? He bitterly thinks: _ha, only in a pipe dream._ He can't get ahead of himself and start planning out a future that he's only _just_ recently started seriously considering. Kids have never once crossed his mind before but that slowly waning hope being crushed in his mother's eyes kill him.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Shou-chan"

"Izuku…"

"Shou-chan"

"Izuku…" a loud groan escapes Shouto's lips.

"You know you secretly love the cheesy nickname" Izuku brightly laughs as he adjusts his fiancé's red silk tie over his neck. They're currently in their bedroom getting ready for Tsuyu and Fumikage's wedding.

The theme of the wedding was a gothic victorian – both males figuring that Tokoyami was probably the one who came up with the theme. All guests were requested to come dressed in (mainly) black. Which to Izuku felt like they were attending a funeral rather than celebrating a wedding. Shouto didn't care as long as he could add _some_ color to his attire via his tie.

"I only love it because you're the only one allowed to call me that" Shouto lets a small amused laugh rumble his throat against Izuku's knuckles.

"Well you better get used to it since I'll be using it a lot more from here on out" Izuku teases with a wink, patting Shouto's chest to signal that he's done and approves of his look.

Shouto stops him from leaving his side, holding onto his hand to pull him back into him. Izuku's body molds perfectly into his as he cups Shouto's face, knowing what he wants. He has to tip-toe in order to reach the two-toned male's taller height.

They kiss tenderly, Shouto wrapping an arm around his fiancé, resting it on the small of his back. Izuku smiles into the kiss, breaking it when he starts laughing, feeling fingers tickling his sensitive sides.

"Shou-chan!" Izuku playfully lectures but doesn't stop the tickling.

"I love you" Shouto pecks his lips once before letting go to finish getting ready.

"I love you too" Izuku smooths over his black tux and checks his image in their mounted mirror hanging on the front door that leads to their closet.

"Knock, knock" a voice quietly calls, peeking a head into the bedroom, "are you two decent, Bun-Bun?"

"Even if we weren't it's nothing you haven't seen before" Izuku smirks, gesturing for her to enter the room.

Ochako playfully sticks out her tongue at him, "har-har Bun-Bun, funny"

She plops down on the bed, swaying her heels as she watches the two men put on their last minute touch-ups. "You two are worse than me at getting ready"

"I don't think anyone can beat Shouto there" Izuku fixes his cuffs and red silk tie before deciding that he's good to go.

Shouto was in the bathroom combing his hair with the door wide opened. "I heard that and I'll admit it's true. You can thank my Old Man for that…" he says coming out while making sure the time on his smartwatch was correct – first time using it since he's moved back. He's always on time but due to his strict upbringings, Shouto was always paranoid and superstitious that if he didn't look one-hundred percent presentable then nothing would go well for the remainder of the night.

"Hey…" Ochako scrunches the hem of the black mesh of her tutu, "before we leave for the wedding, I just wanted to thank you guys again for letting me crash here" she shyly looks up with an appreciative smile.

After the night when she ran away from her apartment at the sight of Shindou, Ochako had been pumped to return to her normal life after work the previous day. She has a new phone and number where Shindou couldn't reach her. Foolishly thinking that his stalking of her apartment would be a one-time type of deal – she rounded the corner to her floor with shopping bags in hand having stopped to buy new sets of undergarments because all her nice ones were stored at Katsuki's. Happy with her cute (but still mature) purchases, she was about to insert her house key into the hole when a hand reached out for her.

On reflex, Ochako dropped her bags to latch onto the mystery person's hand and twisted their wrist until she heard a familiar groan behind her as the person dropped to their knees. Turning around, she saw that it was the one person making her life a living hell. He demanded that they talk in a slurred tone, clearly drunk as she sarcastically told him that she would've, if only he had manners enough to ask politely. He apologized but she still denied him, threatening to use her quirk to leave him floating on the ceiling until she felt like it. It was an hour of bickering back and forth outside in the hallway with a person who was stubborn as hell.

Ochako absolutely can't stand dealing with inhibited, drunken people. It wasn't worth the time and energy. If this had been one of her rescue missions from the past, it'd be a different story.

She hates it when her mind compares anyone to Katsuki but boy was Shindou's temper and stubbornness one that rivaled Bakugou's and not in a good way. She tells him that she's done, giving him exactly one minute to leave the premises of her apartment before she throws him out herself. Her apartment wasn't fancy by any means, not even having security on the grounds. The elevator has been broken for eons so it really was no surprise to her anymore that if something went down at home, she'd have to deal with it on her own.

Ochako had gone into her place, triple locked everything and tried to resume her evening plans but the persistent banging on her door and the banging coming from the sides of her walls and ceiling from neighbors complaining at the noise were all driving her insane. Putting her bags away in her room, she packed an overnight bag and her keys. Going back to her living room, she slid the sliding glass door open that led to her balcony. There, she used her quirk to make her body and steps lighter as she floated from one balcony to the next until she was on the balcony of the emergency ladder that took her straight down.

Shindou could bang and bang on her door for all she cared just as her neighbors could get pissed at her all they wanted but she wasn't home. Taking the shinkansen towards Kichijoji – Izuku and Shouto were in the middle of preparing dinner for the night when they were surprised by her sudden visit.

She explained her situation, out of breath from her hurried travels. They without hesitation, welcomed her into their home with arms wide opened. That had been three weeks ago and Ochako was starting to feel like she was an eyesore to the engaged couple. They needed their time to enjoy themselves but they couldn't when she basically took over the living room's couch. There had only been one slip-up once when the couple had came home heatedly and nearly toppled and crushed her on the couch the one time she decided not to wait up for them.

Izuku looked over to Shouto watching him nod. Both males had agreed since the beginning that they had no problems with this current arrangement they had going on. "Ochako, we both sincerely mean this," he walked over to sit next to her on the edge of the bed, "it's been a pleasure having you stay with us"

Ochako leaned over to caress his freckled cheek, "you're both really sweet and I really appreciate it but I really should return home so I can figure out what I'm going to do… I've been thinking that it's time that I move to a better place"

This was something that Izuku had wanted for her for such a long time but never pushed her until she herself decided that it was the right time _for_ her.

He clasps his hand over the one holding his cheek and gently squeezes it, "we'll be more than happy to help you move, right, Shouto?" Izuku looks for his fiancé who had gone into their walk-in closet to get his black dress shoes. Coming out with the pair, he leans against the doorframe with a genuine smile on his lips. "Of course"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

For the most part, Katsuki had made it to the wedding unscathed and miraculously on time. Camie had held his right leg hostage as she wrinkled his perfectly ironed black pant leg. She was begging to be allowed to tag along with him and he yelled at her to let go.

He would've invited her if only it were her day off from work. Katsuki has never taken a day off from work in his entire life. Not when he was ready to cough out his lung when he got hit with a bad case of pneumonia. When he had passed out at work and rushed to the hospital for overnight care, that's the one and only time he was forced to step down to recuperate. He can't stand anyone who would willingly skip out on work just because they felt like it. Camie reluctantly let go, knowing how her friend is and just asked for him to bring her a slice of cake back. He told her he wasn't gonna make any promises there but he'd try.

"Glad you were able to make it!" Eijirou's the first to greet him with a fist bump.

Katsuki wasn't about to spill that he only came because he wanted to see Ochako. It's been three weeks since they've last seen each other with him requesting more hours by taking other's shifts at work. That one week of vacation time that was forced upon him had greatly pissed him off with having no plans to do anything.

A second longer in his lonely apartment and he was about ready to punch a hole in the wall. His boss knowing how he is, had allowed him to come back a day earlier than expected and since then, Katsuki got his ass to work.

He had gotten back at just the right time, dealing straight away with a fire caused by a telephone pole getting struck down by lightning. It was summer time and the weather was highly unpredictable. The pole had damaged a small café which was heartbreaking for him to see the eighty-year-old elderly couple he rescued break down. Both from being grateful to him for saving them and because their humble little café that proudly stood there for over sixty years had been burned down and completely destroyed.

"Yeah, well, I had the day off" Katsuki grumbled. He wasn't friends with either the bride nor groom, barely even making the effort to talk to them during their high school days. It wasn't anything new for his former classmates. They all knew that Bakugou just wasn't the sociable, friendly, charismatic person that everyone else in their class had been. He mainly kept to himself and the small group of friends he maintained through the years.

Eijirou just laughs with a shake of his head, thinking this was typical behavior for his best friend. If Katsuki was being completely honest, he just wanted to go home already. It wasn't that he particularly enjoyed being home now that he's barely been there lately but he was exhausted and ready for bed. His plan was just to see Ochako and Eijirou for a bit before leaving with Camie's freakin' slice of cake.

"Wanna go hang at the bar? I could use a drink" Eijirou offers, placing a hand behind Katsuki's back to lead him. "Sure why the hell not, maybe that'll wake me up" Katsuki chuckles to stifle a tired yawn.

Katsuki was sporting a plain fully black tux with an orange silk tie while Eijirou had a fully black tux with a cobweb-like textured design and a hot pink silk tie. Both men sat at the bar and ordered shots of tequila.

"Mina?" Katsuki nonchalantly asks, downing his shot and turning the glass upside down.

Eijirou downed his own before answering, "bridesmaid duties"

He hums in acknowledgement figuring that Ochako must be doing the same then.

Both males chatted for a bit, conversing about their day and about how peculiar the wedding theme was. Agreeing that they felt like they were having halloween in summer rather than a cliché beach wedding. They were at a country club by the beach but nowhere near the ocean. Sitting outside in the garden area with its humid air for a good twenty minutes started to make his hands clammy. Wiping his hands down with a pile of napkins so that he doesn't accidentally set off his quirk, Katsuki decides to go for a drink that he normally wouldn't order but it was hot as hell. Wearing an all-black outfit wasn't helping either with the heat.

Eijirou silently watches with an amused grin plastered on his face as the bartender slides a green sour apple margarita Katsuki's way.

Katsuki knows that the red-head has some teasing choice words for him. "I don't give a shit if it's neon green, this is fuckin' delicious" he barks as the sour and strong alcohol cools his throat. He picks at the starfruit they added to the rim of the glass as decoration and eats it in a single bite.

Eijirou wasn't in the mood for the fruitier, refreshing drinks, for once sticking to shots and beers. He's currently drinking a kirin beer, the brown beer bottle touching his lips before he takes a swig. "I haven't seen you go for a 'girly ass' drink since our college days and that one time was only because it was a dare" he comments.

Katsuki rolls his eyes, he knows what he's said in the past knowing all too well that sometimes whatever he says comes back to bite him in the ass years later. He doesn't try defending himself and his changed perspective on drinks. Instead he looks at the beer, not being a fan of Eijirou's favorite brand. "How's that kirin taste you basic ass bitch?" he counters while biting his inner cheek to not smirk.

"Manly" Eijirou laughs, flagging down the bartender to order another.

Katsuki downs the bright green drink before slamming the wide glass down on the counter. "Fuck you and your beer, Ei"

Eijirou flicks the top cap off his second beer taking a long drink as he flips his friend off. They both laugh as Katsuki orders a yebisu beer. The beer helps to loosen up Katsuki and keep him awake rather than relaxing him to the point where he's slipping off the black metal bar stool he's seated on.

He's not quite wasted just yet, just riding a nice little buzz. It took a lot to get him drunk due to the metabolism of his quirk burning off the alcohol sooner than it should. Katsuki taps his fingers against the counter, sighing, feeling like he's got to get something off his chest. He knows that Eijirou, being his best friend since forever can be the only one who'd understand his thought process best without judging him in any way. "Y'know… the Old Hag came for a visit"

"How's your mom doing?"

"Same as always… but…"

"But?"

"She fuckin' busted me, finding Ochako's stuff at my place" Katsuki takes a shot of vodka feeling the drink burn down his throat causing him to wince more at the fact that he's feeling loose enough to babble than the actual liquor.

"Oh shit! How'd that go?" Eijirou scoots his stool closer to make sure he's hearing everything without missing a beat.

"I didn't tell her a damn thing but… argh" he further messes up his spiky disheveled hair, "she thinks I have a secret girlfriend that I'm not telling her about. I mean, she knows about some of my hook ups since she always snoops around my room but she's completely convinced that I've settled down this time" he shakes his head at that, feeling consumed by guilt. "She crashed at my place for a couple of days before leaving me with thoughts I wasn't fuckin' asking for" he frowns, resting his cheek against the palm of his hand, his elbow planted firmly on the counter as he looks at Eijirou with a troubled expression.

"What'd she tell you?" Eijirou sobers up a bit to be ready to give his personal advice if its needed.

"She was so fuckin' happy, Ei," his frown deepens, "she thinks I was just messing with her by not wanting to tell her shit. In the end since I wasn't letting up, she told me not to tell her anything because she wants to be surprised when she gets to meet _her._ Before my mom left my place… she… she…" Katsuki can't bring himself to say it just yet as he swallows his words down with another shot, this time of his favorite fireball.

"Dude…" Eijirou gently clamps a hand on Katsuki's shoulder to assure him to take all the time he needs. If they missed the start of the wedding ceremony, then so be it, this was far more important to him than seeing his adorable girlfriend twirl around in her bridesmaid outfit.

"She cried, Ei, she fuckin' cried. She hugged and kissed me, telling me like a broken record that she can't wait to meet _her_ but… but there's no _'her'_ to meet" if Katsuki had been in the privacy of his own home, he wouldn't be afraid to shed a tear in front of Eijirou but he had to suck up his emotions and let his face tighten up and sting for a couple of minutes as he tries to compose himself.

Eijirou had to drink to the news, clinking his filled shot with Katsuki's empty one on the counter. Tilting his head up, he downs the drink and slams the glass back down. "Do you want there to be a _'her'_?" he seriously asks feeling his heart begin to pick up in pace. He's been waiting _forever_ for this day to come for Katsuki. Eijirou dearly loves him like a brother and wanted nothing but happiness for him.

Katsuki pinches the bridge of his nose, forehead creasing as he thinks about it. He does, more than anything lately. But he doesn't want just anyone. He wants the young woman that can manipulate gravity. The one that can kick his ass in an equal match of wits and strength. The one that takes his breath away every single damn time she looks at him with those beautiful big brown eyes that are just as warm and bright as glittering sand on the ocean's floor. He wants, _needs,_ Ochako like he needs air to breath. He craves her touch, her attention; lingering on every word she speaks; wanting to kiss her senseless.

He's suppressed his feelings for her for so damn long that he had tricked himself, convinced that he didn't need anyone to complete him. The more she went on dates with assholes, the more he wished he could be that knight in shining armor that she so desperately desires. He can't be the perfect princely image that she has in her head but he can _try_ in his own way to make her happy all the same.

Lately he's been noticing that black hole within him grow and grow wider and deeper the longer he's tried to push back the growing embers in the pit of his soul that were only trying to keep ablaze to light up his wandering path.

Like a lonely traveler cloaked in the abyss, walking aimlessly into corners. It isn't until the traveler nurtured the embers, causing them to spark with echoes of a feminine voice carried in the wind that brings him the greatest joy. That familiar voice that tugs and pulls at his heartstrings and strums a tune that's meant for only him to hear. The flames bask in that light of positive energy as they wrap around him. Stronger and stronger they grow until the cloaked traveler in the void explodes. Becoming stardust itself, painting a galaxy in his core. Each tiny star a reminder of what he most desires in that astral plane, his outer exterior, the one that is known as Katsuki.

"I'm in love with Ochako" he whispers, staring down at the empty shot glass on the counter in front of him with a hard, focused look. He's not trying to hide it anymore and if Eijirou was going to boast and cheer that he's known all along – Katsuki will let him.

He doesn't personally think he's qualified to love Ochako but he'll try his damn hardest to be the man she wants. He isn't going to push his feelings onto her when he finally has the balls to confess but if anything, he's genuinely been enjoying reconnecting with her now in their adult years. If anything, he'd want to continue being her friend because the thought of losing Ochako – he can't bear the thought anymore.

Eijirou's eyes opened wide as he nearly dropped his drink when they were interrupted by an announcer over the speakers asking all guest to find their assigned tables as the main ceremony was about to begin. Tsuyu and Fumikage decided to have everyone sit in where they'd be eating at the reception so that they didn't have to move from location to location for every little thing of the ceremony.

Katsuki gets up from the stool on wobbly legs, feeling all the blood rushing to his tingling limbs from having been seated for so long. He doesn't wait for Eijirou to say anything to him, going out of the venue to get some fresh air.

Eijirou watches him leave, wondering what Katsuki was going to do next about his feelings. He knows how much of a hard-head his friend can be. In that moment, he doesn't know what else to do but just lift his drink up to the sky, patiently hoping and praying that everything works out in the end.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Ochako, hurry up we're gonna be late for the ceremony!" Mina knocked on the stall's door. Both women had gone to the restroom inside the building to freshen up their makeup once they had finished taking thousands of photos in the sweltering heat.

"One second, please!" Ochako calls out as she flushed the toilet and came out holding a pregnancy test.

Mina looks at the stick in her hand with a frown, "you're still going on about that?"

After Tsuyu's bridal gown fitting, Ochako had spilled everything about what had happened after the izakaya. In Mina's own words, she basically described Ochako's experience as having mind-blowing sex that was all her doing and not because it was to help her in any way to land another date.

Ochako then went on to tell her with a beet-red face that she thinks she forgot to take her birth control and that she and Katsuki definitely forgot to use protection. Mina wanted to beg her to not take a pill and see what happens but it wasn't morally right. She too knew that it wasn't fair to Katsuki, knowing that, that stubborn ass had a thing for her best friend ever since they were teens. And even if they raised a child together as just friends, it'd still strain their overall relationship which isn't what Mina wanted for them.

Ochako had said she was going to take care of it and make sure to take a pill but she hadn't. It wasn't because she wanted to test her luck and see what would happen – it was as simple as forgetting to. With dealing with Shindou's pestering, being constantly paranoid and stressed out, and playing house roulette with whoever was willing to house her for a couple of days like a freeloader – all thoughts of a bun baking in the oven evaporated from her mind.

"I'm not pregnant!" Ochako announced, exaggerating the amount of relief she felt. She narrowly dodged a bullet but the news brought her a sense of disappointment. To have something of Bakugou's was a foreign thought but it wasn't unwelcomed. She just wanted all her life goals to come true _now_ , impatient in her waiting that she feels guilt over the desperate way she's considering getting what she wants. But her heart is her driving force, the one to put the mental brakes on her and asks her to wait a little bit longer. The reward of waiting would pay off in the end.

This wasn't the first pregnancy test she's tried, having already checked two other times. The fact that nothing had changed within those intervals of days was reassuring. She vows that the next time she and Katsuki consent to sleeping together, she's going to make extra sure of not slipping as she did this time.

"Oh, Sweetie" Mina takes a tissue from the dispenser on the counter to wipe the tears away that are streaking Ochako's cheeks in runny black mascara. "Don't cry" she softly whispers, patting at the corner of her eyes and making sure her eyelashes don't clump together.

"I'm… crying?" Ochako wasn't aware as she touches her face with padded fingertips feeling the warm liquid blurring her vision. "I… I feel pretty pathetic" she confesses to Mina, silently thanking her for the offered tissue box pulling a few out as she wipes at her own ruined makeup. "I'm being selfish… for a second there, I was ready to say 'screw it' and just ruin what I have with Katsuki. He's amazing Mina, he really is but I just can't hurt him, I don't ever want to hurt him and… and… oh gosh" the tears come back again with a vengeance, "what am I doing with my life?" she sniffles, "I truly care about him but… he only sees me as a friend. I've probably overstayed my welcome in his presence. He could be doing so much more of what he wants to do if only I just stopped bugging him all the time" her voice cracks as her whole body shudders from the wave of tears, "I'm immensely grateful to him but this agreement isn't healthy in the long-run. If he's being too nice to tell me to 'fuck off' then I should be the one to"

Ochako's a big girl.

She can handle anything and everything that destiny throws her way.

She's been independent ever since a young age, having to rely solely on herself when she decided to apply for U.A., leaving the familiarity of her comfort of the countryside – of home, when she traded home for the big city.

"Do you… do you really believe that?" Mina's shocked by what she's hearing, feeling an urgent need to sway her friend's thinking.

"Believe what?" Ochako whispers, turning her tissue to a clean corner to clean the smeared mascara.

"That Katsuki only sees you as a friend? That he's bothered in any way by spending time with you?"

Ochako's thoughts feel jumbled but in that moment of pent-up emotional clarity, it makes sense to her. Shrugging, she lets out a shaky breath, "he's told me before that we're friends and even though he's never blatantly kicked me out when I come seeking his help… I just feel guilty because he already has to deal with Camie. They're closer friends, I have no right to get in-between that and insert myself as another thorn in his side with my own baggage. I can't rely on him to pick up my broken pieces just because my life's a mess"

Mina decides in that second to do something about this. She grabs hold of Ochako's slender arms feeling the strong muscles beneath her grip, taking a deep breath she opens her mouth because it was now or never. "Ochako, there's something I need to tell you –" she braces herself to tell her friend, whom she loves very much and only wants to see all her dreams come true, the truth about her idiot of a friend that she's been lucky to have known for years – for as long as she's known Ochako. "Katsuki doesn't find you annoying" she squeezes her arms with a delighted smile, feeling like _finally_ she'll get this boulder off her own chest, "In fact, Katsuki's in lo–"

"Ah! There you two are!" Kyouka busts through the door with Momo in tow. She takes Mina by the hand and drags her out as the pink tinted woman complains. "Wait! I was in the middle of saying something important!"

"Well it can wait until after the wedding! Gossip all you want at the reception!" Kyouka teases as Mina gives Ochako an unreadable expression.

"Yes, we must not keep the bride waiting and get ready for the ceremony!" Momo lightly touched Ochako's shoulder and gestured for her to kindly follow after her to catch up to the other two going down the hall a few steps ahead.

Ochako felt a bit relieved by Mina's word. At least now she won't feel as much guilt about bothering Katsuki but she'll still stop herself from running to him for every little thing. If she's capable of handling something on her own, she'll do it just as she's always done.

Katsuki isn't a security blanket that she can use on demand. He's her precious friend and that hopefully won't ever change. Though, she is curious about that last part she didn't quite get to hear. Wondering what Mina was trying to tell her would get her nowhere, it'd be best to wait until she can ask once they're done with their duties.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Katsuki could hear the entire ceremony blaring from the speakers installed in the four corners of the white-lattice gazebo he's currently standing under. In his current state, he can't handle being surrounded by happy people witnessing an unorthodox wedding taking place.

It's moments like this that he wished that he was a smoker. It'd give him something to do, distracting him from the way his mind's racing. He wandered off further into the gardens of the country club, finding himself hidden away amongst a field of white roses.

They remind him of the mini potted variety he has in his kitchen. One day, while he went out to pick up a quick meal for him and Ochako, he came home to find her painting. She was sitting cross-legged on the living room floor with newspapers covering his entire coffee table with an assortment of acrylic paints, brushes, and a cup filled with water.

She had been wearing her favorite pale pink shorts overalls and a white bra, ditching her plain white tank top to her side due to the heat. He tried not to stare too long at her exposed sides catching glimpses of the lacey material and instead complained about the heat wave in his apartment, saying how he has a working air conditioner. She was too shy to turn it on, falling back to cheap energy conservative ways telling him that she's used to the heat and didn't mind just having the windows and doors opened to catch the slight breeze.

He gave her a look, questioning what she was doing when he ignored her comment to go turn on the central cooling. She giggled and told him not to be such a grouch, promising that his sleek modern coffee table wouldn't get ruined and thanked him for turning on the air when a noise of the system kicking on could be heard.

He placed his bags down on the kitchen counter along with his motorcycle's keys with a jingle. Returning to her side, he plopped down on the couch instead of unpacking the food. He studied the way she sloppily missed the lines she drew in pencil of the stencil she created on the terracotta pot. She kept wiping away the blobs of paint that would fall on her hand from her paintbrush not being able to hold onto the weight of the paint she scooped up. The paint smeared all over her cheeks, neck, knees and thighs.

He awkwardly asked her if this was something she was making for her own place and she told him not to be silly. It was a gift for him to liven up his drab apartment with something handmade. He rolled his eyes, mumbling a 'whatever' as he got up to get plates for their food, pretending that was starving.

When she was done, she cheerfully bounced towards the kitchen to show him the orange and pink sunset she painted with a beach scenery. Turning the pot, she shows him the other side of the pot, where she painted two starfishes that were supposed resemble them. He called her gift lame as she cutely pouted and told him to wait on judging it until she places the flowers inside.

Telling her that it wouldn't change his mind, he went back to dumping half the portion of the shared food onto his plate and asked if she was planning on ever eating too. She told him she would once she got this done. She returned five minutes later with hands covered in paint and dirt from the damp soil. Showing him her choice of mini white roses planted in their new potted home. She jokingly told him that he better keep her gift as he scoffed as if he wouldn't. (Of course he did, it was a gift from Ochako after all.)

Katsuki finds himself chuckling at the memory that the scent of white roses brings him. Any time spent with Ochako always led to new adventures whether they were at his place or the rare times she accompanied him to run mundane tasks. There was never a dull moment with her at his side and he desires for more of those moments to share with her.

"Oh! A wild Katsuki appears!" Katsuki rapidly turns, getting whiplash at the familiar voice and nearly knocked down on his ass at the sight of what Ochako's wearing.

Her bridesmaid outfit – a black dress with a sequin top and black mesh tutu, a mini top hat with a side veil and bowtie platform pumps.

His jaw nearly unhinges at how criminally sexy she looks.

"Were you looking for me, Pink Cheeks?" he coughs to clear his throat, avoiding eye contact with her.

Ochako apologetically shakes her head, awkwardly scratching her cheek. "I… uhh… was just looking for a quiet place to get some fresh air" she climbs up the three steps to the gazebo and stands next to him. She deeply breaths in the salty mist in the air while closing her eyes for a moment's peace. "This place is gorgeous, don't you think?"

' _Not nearly as gorgeous as you'_ he thinks. "S'alright," he mumbles, "is it over?"

She opens her eyes and gives him a dazzling smile, "it is, the buffet has a long line already"

"Figures"

"Hey…"

"Spit it out"

"Save a dance for me later?"

"Hah?"

Ochako gives him that same pouty look he can't get enough of. She turns to face him, placing her hands on his biceps to gently shake him. "C'mon! Don't act like you didn't hear me, Katsuki" she whines with a soft smile placed on her kissable lips.

"I don't dance" he honestly says. It's not that he doesn't know how to, having forced dance lessons in his repertoire from his mother putting him through years of classical ballroom and salsa. It's just not something he particularly cares for.

Her smile falters a bit as he feels her grip on his arms loosen. "Aww… and I really wanted to dance for once"

He bites his inner cheek, his walls continuing to crumble away whenever it comes to her.

"One dance" he agrees a second later.

"That's all I'm asking for!" she squeals, subconsciously hopping up to peck his cheek as she hears her name being called in the distance. Ochako looks behind her, waving to Mina in the distance as she leaves the gazebo.

Katsuki watches her leave, once she's gone he touches his tingling cheek. His fingers pick up pigment from her burgundy lipstick knowing that she left a kiss mark on his cheek. He gulps, placing his hand over his erratically thumping heart to calm it down.

"Dammit, Angel Face" he shakes his head, bangs covering his face but not his infectious smile.

Ochako has that affect on him.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Katsuki is smitten.

Poor Ochako and her dumb luck.

No Kacchako baby juuuust… yet. Perhaps in the future? Ooh la la~

Next Time: Sunset Kisses

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	13. Sunset Kisses

AN: Thank you for the continued support! Fear not, I haven't forgotten about this lil' story of mine. I've just been extremely busy and just about ready to hibernate for the winter. All I wanna do is drown in Kacchako feels. /Cry.

Anyways, it's about darn time that I updated this story, eh?

Here's to, a soft Bakugou. Uhuhuhu.

PS. I also have plenty of new/recent (Kacchako/other BNHA ships) goodies on my profile so please do go and check those out if ya haven't!

Happy reading~ :D

Sunset Kisses

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Katsuki is going to confess.

But first he's going to make his childhood friend squirm in his seat for information.

A few days after Tsuyu's wedding, while at the gym, he had bumped into Mina who was just finishing teaching her evening class. She had accidentally let slip out that Ochako was thinking about moving after caving when Katsuki gave her a hard look that caused her to fidget in place and blurted out the truth.

In her words, she made it sound like Ochako was moving due to her issue with Shindou but he knows Mina's 'explanations' on things, having a tendency to exaggerate the truth. Not fully trusting her nor wanting to ask Eijirou if he knew anything about this as he was somewhat avoiding his best friend.

Katsuki had no other choice but to seek Deku's help.

Now he's found himself sitting on Izuku's couch with his arms crossed over his black tank wearing chest and leaning forwards in an intimating stance – inching closer and closer towards the green haired male who was sweating bullets as he bounced his knees in a nervous habit like a rabbit.

Izuku had just spilled on Ochako staying with him and Shouto for a few weeks now but she had recently moved back to her own place to sort things out.

Oh was Katsuki going to have a word with that chubby cheeked Angel.

Internally, the blond was seething. Mixed emotions flashing through his mind as he pieced together, in order to understand, why she'd run towards others and not him.

Did… did she think so little of their friendship? Was he just convenient when _she_ deemed him worthy?

No, the burning flames in the pit of his soul scorched him, reminding him to remain positive.

"Why the fuck didn't she come to me?" he questioned out loud, sounding more hurt than furious.

He's pissed off all right but more at himself than at her or Izuku. Suddenly, he feels like he hasn't been trying _hard_ enough to be everything Ochako so desired from a man but more importantly from a friend.

Izuku himself knows that no matter what reply he gives his childhood friend, it'd further hurt him all the same. They both know why Ochako would rather find comfort in the shorter, freckle cheeked, scar-covered man.

While they've all known each other since high school, Ochako knew Izuku the longest. They were friends first, now, more like family having a loving sibling-like relationship.

Katsuki knows he hasn't always been the easiest person to approach in the past but he's changed over the years. And by reconnecting with Ochako, he definitely knows he's changed. He's felt it in every fiber of his being, those electric pulses of something stirring within him, being woken up from a very long slumber. That small ember had finally been nurtured within him, cared for lovingly by the stardust until his flame grew and grew, exploding into the night sky of his soul into millions of tiny burning stars in a meteor shower guiding its way to her.

He loves her.

He's always known this.

"I think you should be the one to ask her that, Kacchan" Izuku offers him an apologetic smile as he calmed down from his initial freak out. "She's doing yoga at the gym today" he tries to gently push the explosive blond in the right direction, wanting for both of his friends to finally confess.

Izuku can admit that he's impulsive and naïve when it comes to certain things but he's always been perceptive, excelling in reading into people and things. His own romantic past with Ochako was cut short, with not much to really tell, so it was as if it never happened. Of course he loves her dearly but he wasn't _in_ love with her and Ochako admitted in their final year that what she had felt back then was more of admiration she had confused as a crush for the humble male.

They laughed and hugged it out exchanging loving words and never spoke about it again. But while he and Ochako understood their friendship's dynamic, it only confused the rest of their class when Izuku came clean about his secret relationship with Shouto. That day when he was receiving kind, congratulatory words from his friends, Izuku never failed to notice the silent relief in Katsuki's eyes when his gaze was focused on Ochako from across the room.

It was then that Izuku instantly knew and felt incredibly stupid for not having noticed it sooner but then again, he had to give props to Katsuki for having kept his feelings well hidden. When they graduated and Izuku saw that nothing had changed between his friends, he hid his own disappointment because they both deserved to be as happy as him. To experience that same level of happiness that his own Shouto brings him. Sure, it might have taken a couple of years after their school days but this time Izuku (and he knew Eijirou and Mina too) would do everything in their combined powers to bring these two idiots together once and for all.

When Katsuki was younger, there was no way in hell that he'd ever tell Izuku that he's right but now he has no qualms about admitting it out loud. He gets up from the couch to go put his boots back on at the entrance. "Oi, Nerd?" he speaks up as he laced his first boot up.

"Yes, Kacchan?" Izuku leaned against the wall, watching as Katsuki slightly turned his neck to get a partial view of him.

"Does…" he grunted to clear his throat, "Does Ochako like amusement parks?" he awkwardly asks.

Izuku's lips curled into a small smirk as he softly chuckled, "she loves them" he simply says as he watches Katsuki's head bob in acknowledgment.

Once his second boot was tied, he got up and tapped the tips of his boots on the floor to adjust them. "Thanks… for everything" he tells him, taking his black motorcycle helmet from the small table at the entrance.

Katsuki knows that he's the one that personally went to interrogate Izuku because he's impatient as hell and had this nagging feeling that something wasn't right. Ochako would probably continue to play it off and not tell him anything until the last minute (or never) – which hurt but whatever her deal was, he himself needed to come clean about his own feelings to her.

Izuku was in no way obligated to confess anything despite whatever tactics of intimidation Katsuki used because he knew them all so well. Yeah, he's still not fully immune to said tactics but if he really didn't want to say anything then he could've (not so easily) resisted.

The taller male was now made aware of Ochako wanting to move out which to him was clearly due to Shindou's stalking and not because of whatever bullshit excuse she gave their other friends about wanting to turn over a new leaf.

He'd just have to confront her next and (if he doesn't piss her off too much about being 'nosy') possibly ask her out on a date.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

When Katsuki arrived at the gym, he wasn't expecting to find Ochako in some weird pretzel position and looking as if it was the most comfortable position in the world. He could see her from the windows peering into the spacious studio she was solely occupying.

He hesitated for a split second before reaching for the doorknob, feeling nervous to be around her for the first time since Tsuyu's wedding. They had briefly talked at the gazebo in the gardens and then shard one single dance as he promised her before he took a slice of cake for Camie and went home. He would've stayed a tad bit longer (just to be near her) if only his eyelids weren't drooping telling him it was time for bed.

Ochako was softly giggling to herself as she held her phone in front of her face, watching funny baby animal videos. She had her chest resting on her spongy yoga mat while her torso and all of her body was raised above her, her knees bent in front of her as her legs were firmly planted on the sides of her head, her arms outstretched to hold onto her phone while they helped to anchor her feet from moving from their spot.

He didn't want to startle her and cause her to twist into a tighter form (if that was even possible) so he opted to knock on the back of the wooden door he just came in from.

Ochako looked up from her phone's screen to examine the mirrored walls in front of her, seeing his reflection staring back at her. She couldn't help the blush creeping on her pink cheeks from the sight of him in casual attire. The last time she saw him was at a formal (gothic-esque) event but there was just something about him wearing simple black tank tops, jeans with a belt, and boots that did it for her.

"Can we talk, Sweet Cheeks?" he asked, slowly making his way towards her as his steps and voice echoed across the emptied studio room.

Her blush deepened and was glad that she could excuse it for exertion. Nodding, she untwisted herself and sat down crossed-legged on her mat. She turned around to face him as he sat down across from her with one leg tucked into him and his other propped up, resting his elbow on his knee as he leaned in closer to her.

"What brings you here?" she starts with a small smile, breaking the ice.

He doesn't reply right away, taking a deep breath as he braced himself to either piss her off about worrying about her or showing her that he does care (deeply) about her.

They're friends after all, it was only natural for him to want to be there for her in any way. He's told her time and time again, not entirely sure she fully grasped that. They haven't slept with each other since their (not so tame) izakaya heated night that neither of them brought up. And they haven't really gotten to hang out with him putting himself back into a work-focused mind while she was busy dealing with Tsuyu's wedding. It felt like they haven't seen each other in ages.

He exhales with a frown marring his features, "Ochako, be honest with me"

She tilts her head, confused by his words but patiently waits for him to elaborate. He was using her given name which could only mean one thing: he's going to finally tell her to leave him alone.

Ochako tries not to let her heart drop and sink into the pit of her stomach but her breath stills at his next words when they aren't what she was expecting to hear.

"Were you ever planning on telling me about that fucker Shindou stalking you to the point that you'd want to move out of your place or the fact that you've been staying with Deku for weeks now?" he says in a single breath, trying to come off as bothered but his voice was too hushed, too hurt for that.

Her heart pulses within her throat at the sight of his eyes, staring back at her as if he had been betrayed. Lately she's been feeling like she was the one becoming a nuisance, a thorn in his side. She had no reason to feel that way when he's told her they were friends. Just friends.

Which is a truth that was starting to twist her gut into an uncomfortable knot. She had promised herself to not rely on him for every little thing, especially when it came to dealing with a jerk like Yo Shindou.

She's a big girl, she could handle one problematic guy.

What she couldn't handle was letting down Katsuki in any way and knows that if she chose to lie now and hide behind a partial truth about wanting a fresh start – she'd only be hurting him even more.

It's true, she had been planning on moving out years ago. She's not entirely poor as much as she makes herself seem. But nothing had pushed her in the direction of finding a better, safer apartment than one man she foolishly let into her private life.

Shindou had been a mistake, another entry in her life's book of failures. His chapter in her life would be over once she moves, which had been her main driving force behind finally placing a deposit on a new place.

She had just gotten the key to her new apartment, sticking to staying in the Shinjuku area, but she hasn't said a word to anyone about her new place nor making the big move soon since she was still debating on whether she should ask her friends for help or just hire a moving company.

"No," she truthfully tells him as she briefly closes her eyes and calms her erratic heartbeat, "you've already done so much for me, Katsuki, I can't keep dragging you down with all my personal baggage"

She can't face him, not when she's the one gently pushing him away. Shindou's one step away from exiting her life permanently. The guy hadn't tried anything in the short three days that she's been back at her broken-down apartment but the sooner she left, the better.

Katsuki wasn't hers to keep and that realization hurt.

Ochako knew that all friendships had their limit in tolerance and she wasn't about to sour what little good she has especially with him because Katsuki has always been someone precious to her despite how little they spoke through out their academic years.

She flinches when she feels his warmth closer to her, his hand cupping her cheek as the pad of his thumb brushes against her soft skin. "What if I want to?" he whispers.

Her eyes fluttered open as she felt a tingle in the pit of her stomach. Ochako scanned his features, locking in on his eyes that held an unreadable expression. Feeling tongue-tied, she kept quiet in fear that she'd unintelligibly babble.

"Do I have to drill it to ya that…" he quickly let go of her cheek, hesitating with finishing his sentence, "we're _friends_?" his voice strains at the last word but he masks his discomfort by giving her a genuine smile.

Ochako's small brows furrow, creasing her forehead as she tries to decipher what _that_ was just now but isn't given much time when he speaks up again as he gets up from the floor and offers a hand to lift her up.

She silently takes it being effortlessly picked up and put on her feet, standing in the shadows of his taller figure. His arm muscles twitch as his hand holding hers brushes her soft skin again with his thumb rubbing circles on the top of her hand, shooting another tingle straight into her core. The closer she tuned into the feeling, the more it became familiar, giving her that same 'butterflies in her stomach' feeling like anytime they were intimate together.

"Ochako"

Her ears perked up at the sound of her name being said in such an endearing way.

"Yes?"

"I'm free tomorrow"

"M-M-Me too"

"So whaddaya say," he looked down at their held hand, realizing he hadn't let go but not doing anything about it, "go out with me?"

"H-Huh?!" her heart wasn't going to catch a break today as it sped up again.

She stared at him with wide eyes and parted lips.

"I haven't been to an amusement park since that one shitty field trip we took during our third year so I figured it beats staring at my four walls" Katsuki was no good at asking anyone out on a date seeing as he's never technically been in a relationship before.

"Oh!" she instantly shifted, focusing more on his words rather than trying to read too much into his emotions, "I'd love to, Katsuki! I haven't had fried mochi balls in so long!" she could salivate at the thought.

Katsuki let go of her hand instantly feeling the loss of contact as he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Phsst, spoken like a true foodie" he huffed.

This time, it was Ochako's turn to roll her eyes as a giggle escaped her glossy lips (she wasn't the type of girl to workout in full makeup, only lip gloss to keep her lips moisturized.) "Why don't you meet me at my place instead?"

"Your place?" he needs to clarify that he's heard her right the first time.

She nods.

Initially Ochako would much rather suffer through a spicy bowl of ramen with no milk or water to aid her first than ever to invite Katsuki to her place but she figured two things. One: they're, as he's told her repeatedly, friends. And, two: she's moving soon so it didn't matter if he saw her crappy, run-down apartment. She wasn't embarrassed in any way, shape, or form about her living arrangements and lifestyle but this was another chapter of her life that she needed to close for her own peace of mind.

If she could leave her apartment once and for all with Katsuki's blessing, of him getting to know the real her, of her baring not only her soul but every part of her life with him then she'd be leaving with that peace.

Katsuki is her future, whether it be as they stood now, friends with benefits or as… what her heart longs for: _more_.

She's still working on the latter though.

Ochako definitely knows and has felt something change ever since what happened at the izakaya and her small pregnancy scare.

She's just not one-hundred percent sure if she's whole heartedly feeling the things she's feeling or just wanting to project onto him said things she's wishing for in life. She's vowed to herself that she'd never hurt him in any way and needed to sort out her own feelings soon before things got further complicated between them.

For now, she'll happily accept a 'friendly' outing with him. Trying her hardest to convince herself that this wasn't a date.

"Okay" he tells her, nodding himself as he agreed.

Katsuki was going to see where Ochako lives (when she wasn't hiding from Shindou.)

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

This was it.

Ochako had braced herself all night and all morning long about Katsuki seeing her place.

She was by no means a slob, but her place was extremely tiny. What was possibly his entire living room and kitchen area made up her entire place. Currently her living room had a parade of various sizes of buckets scattered about, on top of her furniture to catch the leaking droplets of water from her broken pipes.

Her plumbing just had to throw a fit for her (important) guest today of all days.

Katsuki didn't give her a sassy remark on the littered buckets or the fact that her walls were so thin that they could hear the neighbors making a racket (and conversing) in their own place to the sides and upstairs of her or the fact that whenever there was movement from upstairs, pieces of drywall came chipping off the walls in a small puff of dust.

Her apartment looked really bad.

With her living room being occupied with a mini army of buckets and a small mound of drywall chunks – she invited him into the one stable room in her whole apartment – her bedroom with her old springy uncomfortable bed.

He sat down at the edge with an audible creak as his weight pressed down, sinking into the mattress with a noise as if the bed would break in two anytime now.

She furiously blushed due to her embarrassment, hurriedly trying to find her favorite (and only pair of) black ankle boots to go along with her simple black lace crop top and pink shorts.

Rummaging through her cramped closet, the silence felt deafening as he hasn't said much to fill the void. He had greeted her and entered but that was about it.

Was he trying to hold himself back from saying something rude? If he was, she could handle it.

Internally, Katsuki was still reeling. This… this was what she had been living in for years now? He knew her, knew that she humbled herself for the sake of her family's needs, pushing aside her own. It made him feel this urgent need to get her the hell out of this place.

He was well off but by no means a millionaire but he could provide her something so much better than this shithole she calls an apartment.

"Come stay with me" his lips blurted out before his mind could register what he just said.

"What?" she nearly tripped over a pile of clothes hangers she left on her closet's floor.

He watched her stumble out of her mess and came back to her room looking smaller and shyer than before. She held one found boot in her hand and the other supported her against the doorframe.

"I'm…" he grits his teeth, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as he speaks up, "I'm no good at this, Pink Cheeks" he confesses with a deep sigh, "but you said yourself that you're thinking about moving so why don't you crash at my place until you find something… better?" he cringes at his choice of words, not wanting to sound like he was looking down on her.

She's going to say no.

She's going to thank him for the offer though.

She's going to decline.

She's going to tell him that he's too good to her.

She's going to tell him that she'll be fine.

She's going to tell him that she's found a place already.

She's going to…

"Okay" she squeaks out, mentally wanting to kick herself.

"Okay" he repeats, heart thundering against his ribcage.

He wants her at his side.

He wants her to be the first thing he sees in the mornings.

He wants her to be the last thing he sees at night.

He wants the little things with her, like to cook for her or run mundane errands together.

He wants to spend more time with her.

He wants to….

He wants to be her everything.

Ochako doesn't know how to take back her acceptance, still trying to come to terms with her own impulsive eagerness, so she does the only thing she can think of – she runs back into her closet to find her other boot and makes a stupid comment on the time, saying how it's getting late and how they should leave for the amusement park.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

She doesn't allow the words to sink in just yet. Won't let them process and consume her whole until the day's over. She just wants to have a fun hangout day with Katsuki and nothing more. She doesn't want to think about how she so easily accepted his offer to (temporarily) move into his luxurious apartment that makes her soul weep on the inside for having heated floorboards, soundproof walls, working air conditioning, and a massive super fluffy bed that she could honestly spend all eternity in.

They arrived to the hero themed amusement park – Hero Landia around noon. It was a park almost as big as the USJ with an assortment of carnival style games, various junk food stalls, souvenir shops, big and small roller coasters, water rides, bumper cars, a ferris wheel, and a carousel ride.

Ochako was currently waiting for Katsuki to come back from purchasing their tickets. She insisted on paying him back, feeling super guilty that he was already doing so much for her and didn't want to feel like such a freeloader. He scoffed and told her not to sweat it as he disappeared into the sea of people before she could protest.

It didn't help that he blended into the crowd with wearing monotone colors save for his shoes. He was wearing a white sleeveless shirt with black ripped jeans and orange high-top sneakers. He came back twenty minutes later with two paper wristbands and a white plastic stick sticking out of his mouth from a lollipop he told her that the (elderly) cashier handed him.

"Ooh, someone has a crush on you~" she teased, poking his left bicep with her padded index finger.

"Cougars aren't really my thing" he sucked on the red lollipop with a grumble, trying to cover his blush.

He suddenly felt like he was fifteen again under her doe-like gaze. Awkward and in love, as he offered her the extra lollipop he received.

Ochako didn't take Katsuki for a hard candy type of guy or really any candy since she's never seen him eat any sweets. Thanking him, she's caught off guard when he gently took a hold of her hand and wrapped the purple paper wristband around her small wrist and stuck the two sticky ends together to secure it in place.

The very first thing Ochako wanted to do was to find her beloved fried mochi balls. She told him that he could pick whatever ride he wants after she completes her goal but until then, she's a woman on a mission.

Which didn't take them very long to find. She bounced in place, feeling giddy as she got into the order line and bought her sweet treat. Sitting down, she digs right into the first gooey ball, picking it up with her fingers rather than the provided toothpick.

"You gotta try this, Katsuki!" she gushes as the chocolate custard washes over her senses, placing a palm to her cheek as she leans into it and momentarily closed her eyes with a content sigh on her lips while munching.

She reminded Katsuki of an eager woodland creature that was discovering something magical for the very first time.

"Okay" his voice washes over in endearment, finding himself saying 'okay' to her a lot lately.

Katsuki leaned forwards from where he sitting across from her at the table, boldly waiting for her to feed him. Not in a million years would he ever be caught dead showing any display of affection towards anyone but Ochako never failed to jumble his insides and make him want these things he was fine in the past with not having.

Ochako opened her eyes, staring at his awaiting parted lips. Her breathe hitched in her throat when she noticed that the red candy had stained the inside of his lips.

They looked so pouty and kissable…

Shaking her head, with nervous hands, she pressed the small deep fried mochi ball against his lips. She held it in place as he deliberately took two small bites to finish it. Once he was done, he quickly pecked her finger and pulled away from her.

Her teeth chattered as she gulped. There was definitely something in his eyes when he did that. A passionate flame behind those ruby eyes that would burn her the longer she let them engulf her.

"L-L-Let's g-go r-r-ride stuff!" she jolted up from her seat, becoming a stuttering mess in front of him.

He didn't say a word about the kiss to her finger tip, simply shrugging as he helped dispose of their trash and then went back to stuffing his hands into his jean's pockets like he normally did when feeling out of place.

Katsuki was no good at this lovey-dovey stuff and knows what he told her (in order to not screw up their flow because dammit, he doesn't want to scare her away) about this being just a chill hangout day. But he was going to confess no matter what and if he chickened out at the last minute, then he'd kick his own ass for being a coward.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

They spent the entire day in long lines to ride the biggest thrill rides and got soaked to the bone when they decided to go on the water log ride. Maybe it wasn't the brightest idea to do the water ride, seeing as the sun was starting to set in a hue of pink and orange dusting the cloudy skies and with the slight chilly night breeze drying their wet clothes – it made the temperature feel colder.

Ochako was shivering, muscles spasming in involuntary quakes as she walked along Katsuki to the ferris wheel, opting to hide away from the chill while suspended in mid-air in a colorful steel-welded orb that slowly rotated, giving an impressive view of the entire amusement park lit up at night and Mt. Fuji in the way distance.

He noticed her shivering, internally cursing himself for not bringing a jacket along. Walking closer to her, he hoped that at least his own body's natural heat would warm her up. It was the one good thing about his quirk, having an abnormal body temperature but his drenched clothes still felt gross and heavy.

They dripped-dropped imprinting their walked path from their clothes leaving a trail behind him. Ochako found it somewhat amusing as she watched other groups and couples with soaked clothes laughing and complaining about the cold weather. It made her feel better about walking around like a wet slug.

Halfway on their trek back to the entrance of the park to where the ferris wheel was located, Ochako had been hugging herself for a semblance of warmth when her eyes locked onto Katsuki's pockets. His hands must have dried up the sides of his jeans but she wasn't sure, seeing as how he was wearing black jeans but, in that moment, the temptation to find out was too powerful.

"K…Katsuki, c-can I h-hold y-y-your hand?" she shyly asks, visibly spasming in a strong jolt again as a rough breeze seeped through her bones.

As if he could ever say 'no' to her.

Katsuki silently took her hand, concentrating on the amount of heat to emit off his hand in order to warm her up. She was ice cold and twitching in his hold until his warmth started to relax her as he led the way towards the ferris wheel.

He was grateful that the wait wasn't long, finding themselves being ushered into a private orb and told to have fun by the ride attendant. The first minute spent inside the orb was awkward. Katsuki wasn't sure if he should let go of her hand so she could sit but knowing Ochako, she'd be considerate of others and not want to let the cushioned seat absorb the water of her dripping clothes.

They both decided to stand in silence until he felt Ochako's hand lightly squeeze and tug him closer towards the glass wall, pointing towards the direction of Mt. Fuji that was beginning to be shrouded in darkness from the sun having set further down, giving way to a starry sky.

"Oh! It's gorgeous!" she gasps, momentarily forgetting how cold she is to press her hands against the cool glass and marvel at the scenery. The lit-up amusement park and the surrounding mountains were truly a sight to see he admits but they're not what he cares about in that moment.

No, in that moment all he has eyes for is her and her wonderment for the little things.

This was it.

He's going to do it.

He's going to tell her how he feels.

"Ocha–" he starts to speak up when he gets interrupted by the sound of something shooting up and crackling as it disperses.

It's then that he realizes the fireworks have started up, the colorful streams of sparks in the night sky bounce off the reflection of the orb they're in.

"Waah! Did you see that one?!" she's gasping and excitedly bouncing in place, following the direction of the fireworks with her head as she sways left, right, up, and down while imitating the sound of the fireworks exploding.

She's softly giggling, a beautiful smile gracing her lips with flickering chocolate brown eyes glued onto the fireworks show.

Lost in her own bubble that not even Katsuki can pop.

He wonders then if it was possible to fall even more in love with a person.

He's going to…

He can't.

He's no good with words.

But actions…

Katsuki snaps her out of her own reverie when he swiftly grabs her shoulder, turning her around and cups her face in the palms of his hands. He tilts her head up and crashes his lips against hers.

If he's a dumbass, he's the stupidest one there is.

He could've confessed but didn't.

The only thing he accomplished was to further complicate things between them but for that one single moment, he didn't care. She's the only one he'd ever take a shot on, the only person able to break him down.

Katsuki would embrace his faults because he never wanted to stop kissing Ochako.

He took one step ahead, gently pushing her body against the glass. Their lips molded together in a shy surprising kiss as Ochako relaxed and reciprocated. Tugging and pulling at his bottom lip, asking for more. He happily obliged, slipping his tongue in as they found a perfect rhythm.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Ohohoho, I honestly have no words for this chapter other than, trust me, I want these two to _finally_ get together just as much as anyone else reading!

Next Time: Milk & Honey

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	14. Milk & Honey

I'M FREE! I finally have time to update stuff! Thank you all so much for the continued support and feedback! It really fuels my creative drive knowing that there's an audience out there for what my brain likes to throw my way. Haha.

Quick announcement! I now have a Twitter! Tumblr has become a dumpster fire with its new policies so a lot of Kacchako peeps kinda ditched and moved over onto Twitter. I was never really all that interactive on Tumblr but you can bet that I'm a lot more social over on Twitter.

Come find me at: vanity_skyyy.

Uhuhuhu, if you thought this story was wild with Katsuki and Ochako still not being official then just wait until they actually are!

Ps. As requested, more Kirimina is on its way!

Happy reading~ :D

Milk & Honey

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako doesn't know what she's doing.

What _they're_ doing.

She's the first to wake up, her hair still damp, goosebumps prickling her skin, and completely naked. She gently bites down on kiss-swollen lips, turning her head and looking down to face hard back muscles and a head of wild unruly blond hair greeting her vision.

Katsuki was still in a state of deep sleep, softly snoring, clutching onto a pillow that just a moment ago was her. Using her quirk had its perks sometimes, especially now when she's trying to act as quietly as possible. She touched his arm with the barest amount of zero gravity to escape his comfortable secure hold. It was a miracle in itself that she hadn't floated them up without her night mittens on but she has an inkling of a clue that it might be due to the nauseous way she's feeling.

Oh, how she would've stayed tucked under him and continue sleeping but her nagging mind wouldn't allow her such pleasures.

She needed another shower, get dressed, and talk to Mina. _Now._

 _Ochako was left breathless any time she and Katsuki really started going at it. His lips lingered on hers for a few seconds longer until he slightly moved away to peck her forehead._

" _We should go before we get sick, Angel Face" he softly grumbles, clearing his throat as he awkwardly reaches for her hand. Intertwining their fingers, he securely holds onto her hand as they wait to get off the ride and led them both out of the amusement park._

 _From her few steps back, she can clearly see his reddening ears but knew he was probably trying to hide his blushing face away from her._

 _She found it cute as she smiled to herself and focused on the way he tried keeping her warm through their hand holding as the cool air nipped at her soaked clothes._

 _One second, they were standing outside of his apartment with minimal conversation buzzing in the air between them, patiently waiting for him to unlock the door to his apartment while shaking like a leaf. She was no good in the cold despite being born in the winter._

 _The next thing she knows, her back hits the cool black tiles of his spacious bedroom shower. His tongue traces the seam of her mouth, urgently and hotly coaxing her lips apart. She lets him in, loudly moaning as he sucks on her tongue, dominating their duel. He slows down after minutes of bliss, nibbling on her bottom lip before pulling away with an echoing smack._

 _She's heavily panting, throat erratically pulsing, and whimpering desperately wanting him when he stares at her so intensely. Magma and glittering rubies lock onto her half-lidded warm brown topaz eyes._

" _Fuck, you're beautiful" he whispers in a sinfully wanton tone, eyes never wavering off of hers._

" _Katsuki…" she nearly cries out, needy as her fingers grasp his wet shirt feeling hard muscles beneath her padded touch. With one look, he had her in a daze, begging for him._

 _One hand firmly held her thigh against him, dull nails sinking into her chilled flesh. He firmly held her letting her know of the effect she has on him physically, of his unabashed arousal towards her. The other hand clumsily pats around searching for the shower knobs, once he had one in his reach, he turned it and immediately ruined the momentum of their lustful dance._

 _Ochako shrieked when a rain of icy cold water cascaded down on them. She screwed her eyes shut as the cold water pricked her already clammy skin. She let go of his chest as she covered her face with both hands, teeth chattering for a second before she started giggling when she heard Katsuki's string of curses under his breath._

" _You making fun of me?" he gave her an unthreatening glare as he twisted the knob the other way to warm the water._

 _She lets out one last giggle before shaking her head, getting serious, "just when I was getting used to wearing wet clothes, you changed the temperature on me"_

 _He rolled his eyes, "better to just take it all off…" he mumbled._

" _Then undress me" she boldly says, hooking one finger under the thin spaghetti strap of her black lacey crop top._

 _Katsuki chokes on his next words, swallowing them as he stares at her with hungry eyes. He takes a step closer, silently testing the waters as he pulls her hips closer to unbutton her pink shorts._

 _She doesn't object to the action, rather, she licks her lips and patiently waits for him to shimmy down her shorts all the way which was a challenge in itself with how they were clinging onto her._

" _What do you want?" he whispers, holding her in place, arching over to place his forehead against hers, casting a small barrier from the shower head's water coming down on them. He asks like he usually does when they enter this realm of their special friendship. His voice gets drowned out by the running water but she knows what he said._

" _You" she tells him, keeping it short and simple as she fights with herself to not say how she wants all of him. She doesn't want him just because they have this agreement between them._

 _Their vibe, their flow, their entire relationship was one of a kind._

 _It made her feel warm and fuzzy just as much as it made her feel insatiable and desired._

 _Ochako knows in her heart and soul that Katsuki has ruined her for other men._

 _After this, she wouldn't be able to date others. It's not like she's even tried after the disaster that was Shindou but she knows that once they dive deeper into whatever this is between them, whatever this new development of their 'friendship' even is – there was no turning back for her._

 _But did she care?_

 _As she lets out a shaky exhale while water drips down her body – tilting her head to let him caress her neck with adoration, licking and nibbling at her burning skin, and feeling expertly skilled callous fingers dip underneath her panties – she doesn't._

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Mhm, mhm, mhm I sure could get used to the sight of my future wifey cooking up a storm in just her hot pink bra and booty shorts" Eijirou grins, leaning against the kitchen's entrance.

Mina wiggles her hips slapping her ass as she turns and looks at him, "it's fuchsia not hot pink" she teases sticking out her tongue.

"Before you tell me I look good enough to eat, riddle me this" Mina goes back to pouring pancake batter onto the hot griddle pan.

"What's up?" he fully enters her kitchen and takes hold of the bowl filled with chocolate chips to sit on the small counter space next to her stove.

"You've never technically proposed" she reminds him while swatting his hand with her spatula to stop him from eating the chocolate.

"As much as I know you'll want me to make a grand spectacle of it, I know you Babe, you don't want to upstage Shouto and Izuku's big day" he counters, sneakily grabbing a handful of chocolate chips and stuffing them into his mouth like a chipmunk.

Mina groans, "damn you Eijirou Kirishima for foiling my plans and my breakfast!"

"You know you find me irresistible" he leaned over to quickly peck her cheek, hopping off the counter he then took the spatula from her hand and gave her a little nudge to get out of the way, "someone's at the door" he says right as they hear the bell.

"How the…" she's trying to figure out how he did that. Shaking her head with a low chuckle, she goes to open the door to go attend to what she's assuming to be an early morning package delivery. Before opening the door, she takes a sweater she had on the coat hanger to cover herself up. Instead of a delivery man at her door, she's greeted by the sight of Ochako wearing a long-sleeved green baggy turtleneck crop top with acid washed denim shorts and sneakers.

Biting her tongue back from commenting on how hot it is to be wearing anything with long sleeves – Mina silently takes in Ochako's ensemble, reading her tense body language. Her lips curl into a mischievous grin when her eyes lock onto the patches of concealer that was clearly two shades too dark for Ochako's complexion.

"Did you lose a fight with a big ass mosquito last night?" she jokes oozing with a playful tone, ready to continue teasing Ochako about the obvious countless of hickeys covering her best friend's body.

"I… uhh… I had shower sex with Katsuki! We got carried away again, oh god, I feel nauseous!" Ochako panickily blurted out as her voice wavered, feeling the sting of tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She didn't plan to start their conversation this way but after her second (possibly foolish) heated night with Katsuki – there was just no way of beating around the bush.

Mina took a small glance towards her kitchen where Eijirou was happily whistling along to whatever pop music he had playing on his phone while cooking. Returning her attention to Ochako, she grabbed her hand and led her inside without letting Ochako take off her shoes at the entrance. "My room, now!" she shouted as they blurred through the apartment.

With a swipe of her hands, Mina threw her pile of clothes off her bed and planted Ochako right on the edge. She began pacing back and forth in front of her eerily quiet friend, briefly closing her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, "please, _please_ tell me you're _not_ pregnant" she begged, needing to ask as much as it killed her to plead for the exact opposite of what she wanted for Ochako.

"What? No, no! I swear I'm not pregnant, we were safe…ish" her voice grew smaller and squeaked on the last part.

Mina shot her a serious glare at that kind of response.

"Mina! I'm not! I recently switched birth control" Ochako shimmied her arm out from her sleeve to show her the small red bump. She had switched from pills to a small implant device inserted directly into the underside of her arm. "I'm sorry if I scared you but… urrrkkk" her voice quivered as she fell back on the cushioned mattress, "tell me…" her voice grew somber, "what am I doing with my life?"

"You're getting exactly what you've always wanted, Hun, a man that treasures you"

"But Katsuki's…" she gulped, pushing down the lump of hard words that were increasingly growing difficult to swallow, "he's not _mine_ , Mina, we're _just_ friends… and honestly after last night, he's completely ruined me for anyone else and it's not the first time I've thought that about him…"

"You make it sound like he puts the _kama sutra_ to shame" Mina snorted, half-joking until she watched Ochako lift her upper body on bent elbows and gave her this _look_. She knew exactly what that _look_ meant as her eyes widened and jaw dropped.

Mina needed a second to recompose herself as she coughed to clear her throat, "let me just ask you one thing" she filters through her mind, deciding that it wasn't her place to tell Ochako the obvious as she was so ready to spill back at Tsuyu's wedding. The more thought she put into it, the more she thought of Katsuki's feelings. She'd be considerate and not intervene more than necessary as much as that went against everything she believes in but for once she was allowing destiny to run its course. And right now, destiny was telling her to be patient with these two for a little bit longer because something _big_ was heading their way, _all_ of their ways. She felt it therefore knew it'd be true.

As the only female for the longest time (until Kyouka joined) of Bakugou's group of friends – Mina felt like she had a responsibility to take care of _her_ boys. Their wildly unpredictable leader was the hardest of her boys to tame but if there's two things Mina's an expert on, it's one: translating all things Bakugou and two: the language of love. She knows he's been bitten by the lovebug (for years now) just as much as she knows that whatever Ochako's feeling is true and genuine and not just her trying to project her innermost wishes onto him.

A little shove in the right direction is all this oblivious pair needed.

Just a small, itsy-bitsy, deeply thought-provoking nudge.

"Have you ever stopped and wondered if he's just as into you as you are with him? Look at the pros and cons, _especially_ during and after sex"

Ochako fully rose and sat up on the bed, Mina could clearly see the gears starting to work in her head.

"No" she truthfully replies.

No, because she's been busy running away from the what-ifs, content with pretending that whatever this was between them was enough.

No, because she's too afraid to get her hopes up if she's the only one reading into things and feeling her insides coil up and tighten whenever she thinks of him or what they're doing.

No, because it'd hurt like a ton of bricks if she gets rejected for putting herself out there when he had told her since the beginning that he was only helping her as a _friend,_ he wasn't looking for a relationship with anybody.

"Ochako, I love you so much that if I loved you any more then we'd be legally married" Mina plops down with a small bounce right next to her, gently taking Ochako's hands into hers, "Katsuki's heart has always been guarded like a fortress but when he looks at you, I've never seen him be so quick to lower his drawbridge. Don't sell yourself short, Sweetie, you're special to him" Mina squeezed Ochako's held hands and leaned over to kiss her forehead, lips lingering for a moment as she heard the soft sniffles begin.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Where the fuck did summer go?" Katsuki questions out loud to himself, checking and marking down the last day of August on his calendar pinned to the back of his bedroom's door.

With working nonstop, Tsuyu's wedding, and helping Ochako to temporarily move in with him – the entire summer passed by in a blur without the chance to even go to the beach once. And now here he is, in the middle of getting ready to leave for Izuku's place because that nerd had an 'oh so important' announcement to make.

"C'mon, 'Cheeks! We're gonna be late!" he loudly bangs his fist against his bathroom's door.

It's only been two weeks since Ochako officially took up his offer to fully move in but she didn't want to be treated any differently than how he'd treat any other house guest. Which already failed considering they were well past any formalities and boundaries with each other.

He insisted on getting her a futon or a small bed for his spare room which was currently being used as office space that was just collecting dust with old closed case files from his time as Ground Zero.

Sometimes when he was feeling restless despite how much his body was crying for sleep – he'd sit at his computer desk and reread over the countless of paperwork he had done for missions he'd done under Best Jeanist and Miruko. They reminded him of what he left behind to pursue other goals, knowing the door was always opened for him to return but not knowing _when_ or _if_ he'd ever return to _that_ life.

Ochako had been a real pain in the ass the first week of moving in with him, putting her foot down and absolutely not allowing him to spend a single yen on her. She was fine with sleeping on either his couch or the floor itself. He found out the hard way that her stubbornness could rival his very own which admittedly had irritated him to no ends until he realized that dammit, he was attracted to it.

Allowing her to do whatever the hell she wanted, he dropped the subject of wanting to accommodate her in his apartment because he wasn't ever going to win this losing battle with her. She eventually caved when she'd wake up with an aching back and he'd come home at the crack of dawn from work finding her almost mummified under medicated back pain patches. For two days now, she's been officially sleeping with him in his bedroom but they haven't had sex since their amusement park 'date.'

Katsuki _knows_ that with every taste of her body, he can't go back to the way things were between them. He can't bring himself to want to sleep with her just so she can land a date with whatever loser comes flopping her way with broken promises and half-truths.

The thought of her dating anyone else angered him and greatly pissed him off, not because he wanted to claim her like some rare prize to be won (she's her own person) but because he _knows_ her, has for years, and _knows_ she can trust him with her heart because his feelings come from a very real and very terrifying place that he never thought he was ever capable of feeling for anyone until she came hurdling back into his life like a meteor shower.

It wasn't just his physical and sexual attraction towards her. It was everything – her intellect, strength, compassion, etc; her beauty that radiated and glowed from the inside out.

He's in love with her but can't find the courage to confess like a total dumbass.

"Sorry! Sorry!" she calls out running out of his bathroom, steam escaping the enclosed room. Her body and hair wrapped in his orange towels with small droplets of water splayed across her shoulders and chest. "I'm coming!" she rushes towards her drawer space in his dresser looking for undergarments.

Katsuki internally groans, her words giving him a double meaning. Chewing on his inner cheek, he needs to leave his own freakin' bedroom before he rips off that towel from her body and has his way with her. Deku's whatever-was-oh-so-important-news be damned.

"Just hurry up, we're leaving in ten minutes!" Katsuki tells her with a faux annoyed huff, storming out of his room as he fought with himself to not look back.

Lately, he's finding it harder to not touch her in any way. Feeling as if he's touch-starved despite sharing a bed with her at night. He was in no way those types of sleepers that could stay still in one position all night, needing to be sprawled out and touching _something_.

Whether it came from his past traumas when he'd have nightmares no thanks to all the times he's been either a hostage or kidnapped by some villainous asshole or just from the fact that his own quirk came from a place of needing physical and emotional feelings attached in order to work – touch was subconsciously very important to him.

His and Ochako's quirks relied on their hands but their hands weren't just good for manifesting their quirks. Touch and their hands fulfilled another sense of closeness between the two. Whether it was during their intimacies and foreplay in the bedroom or something much more innocent as comforting or playfully messing with each other.

Katsuki has her so close yet so far from his reach.

Nine minutes later, Ochako came out into the living room where Katsuki was just finished lacing up his boots at the entrance. Standing up, he gets his keys and an extra riding helmet before opening the door for her.

She thanks him as he locks up and they make their way down the hall towards the elevator. Downstairs in the parking garage, he takes out his other helmet from inside his bike's compartment and was about to put it on when a pair of teenagers passed by on their skateboards.

"Pssht, helmets are so lame!" one teen's voice echoed in the garage, laughing.

Katsuki felt a vein begin to throb in his temple as a low growl escaped his throat. Setting his own helmet on his motorcycle's seat, he turned around to help Ochako with hers, trying his best to ignore the teenagers who were slowly making their way towards the apartment complex's entrance.

"Yeah, covering up that hot chick's face is a crime!" the other commented, skateboard wheels screeching to a halt.

That did it for him. "Y'know what's not lame?!" Katsuki's increasing volume echoes, "HER FUCKING SAFETY!" he yelled, setting off a car's alarm in the distance with his voice alone causing the teens to jump.

"Katsuki" Ochako begins, gently placing a hand on his tense forearm.

She didn't need to finish her sentence as her simple touch diffused him. Putting his helmet on and revving up his engine, he silently waits for her to sit down behind him before driving off. His spine begins to tingle with a jolt of electricity when he feels her wrap her arms around his waist, pressing her body close against him, he lets out a shuddered breath at her comforting warmth.

Katsuki knows that motorcycles still make Ochako uneasy as he reaches a hand down and holds hers tightly to reassure her that she'll always be safe with him.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

They make it to Izuku and Shouto's apartment right on time, being greeted by the hosts themselves. Once inside, they see that Tenya, Mina, Eijirou, Denki, Kyouka, Hanta, Momo, and her husband Yosetsu were all in attendance.

Ochako greets Izuku and Shouto with hugs and kisses before she runs straight into the arms of Tenya who she hasn't seen in forever due to him taking a sabbatical leave to Austria. From taking over his older brother's hero office full time, with Tensei being paralyzed and wheelchair-bound – Tenya still found time in his packed schedule to work as a university professor during the weekends part-time.

Katsuki quietly makes his way towards his own pack of hyenas as his eyes wandered over to Ochako, where she was animatedly talking to Tenya and Izuku about something as she laughed with a bright smile plastered on her face and moved her arms wildly to explain things.

He couldn't help the smile creeping up on his lips at the sight of her being herself around her own group. It was soon wiped off his face when he felt someone pinch his side _hard_. "What the fuck!" he yowled, glaring down at the retracting arm of none other than Eijirou.

Okay so maybe he did deserve that, he has been purposely avoiding his best friend. After confessing that he's in love with Ochako to him, he was afraid of whatever words of wisdom the red-head would spout at him already knowing he'd be right.

"Asshole" Katsuki grumbled plopping down on the couch's armrest right next to Eijirou.

"Bitch, _please_ , you're the one being an ass lately" Eijirou shot back, pinching Katsuki's knee this time.

"Quit it!" Katsuki complained through gritted teeth ready to slug him on the arm.

Eijirou wasn't really mad at him, he was just annoyed that he was left out of the loop after Katsuki had dropped a heavy load on him without further wanting to discuss it.

"Boys!" Mina raised her voice, giving both of them warning looks, "On the count of three, you two better act on your best behavior. Don't piss Mama off" with a crooked smile, she raises a hand up showing them the forming acid building up on her palm.

Both males know not to mess with her as she could easily melt their clothes off, leaving them in nothing but boxers for the remainder of the night.

"Yes Ma'am" they sigh in defeat.

Momo went around handing everyone a glass of champagne before setting the tray down to sit down next to Yosetsu as Izuku and Shouto clinked their glasses gathering everyone's attention their way.

"Before we start, Shouto and I would like to thank everyone for coming," Izuku began with a shy smile, "umm… as you all already know, we're engaged" he shows off his gold band littered with small diamonds.

Everyone except for Katsuki clap and cheer meanwhile he takes a sip of his champagne and rolls his eyes at the gushing idiots around him. Ever since they were kids, Izuku has always taken his sweet ass time getting to the point of things. Over time, Katsuki has grown impatient with him even though he was always attentive in his listening.

Izuku looks down at his glass with blushing cheeks, "I think you should take over, Shouto"

Shouto nods, clearing his throat as he scans the room, "you all know the sacrifices we make as active pro heroes on the field," he starts as everyone nods, "every second of our time is precious and for that reason," he glances over at Izuku with a loving look and a small smile, "Izuku and I have decided to wed in October"

They hear the ladies gasp, sitting on the edge of their seats.

Shouto clearly wasn't done speaking but he let Izuku take over taking turns. "As Shouto said, every second is precious and we don't want to waste a drop in preparing for a grand wedding. We would like to have our immediate friends and families there for the occasion but… oh gosh…" he shakily clutches onto his champagne flute not knowing how to drop the biggest chunk of news to everyone.

"Izuku and I have decided to hold our ceremony in Paris and if you'd allow us to – we'd like to personally pay for all of your tickets and accommodations so this is the reason why we asked all of you to come here tonight. We'd like to give you all the appropriate amount of time to make preparations for vacation time off from work if you'd like to join us"

The room went deathly silent as everyone save for Katsuki and Kyouka gapped like goldfishes.

"Wait, we're all getting a free trip to France?!" Mina was the first to jump off the couch with a squeal when Shouto shot her a smirk. "With hopes that you'll attend our wedding" he deadpanned.

"Right! Right! Of course, duh!" she went to go hug him and fondly pinched Izuku's freckled cheek.

"Bun-Bun… is this… is this really okay?" Ochako furrowed her brows, cautiously asking as equations of the cost the engaged couple was willing to spend on all of them quickly brought her a headache.

"It is," he assured her, "in fact, Yuga is helping us out with everything. I saved his jewelry store from robbers when I was stationed in France and was off duty. He was so grateful that he offered to help with the wedding planning when he saw my ring" Izuku deeply blushed at the memory.

Ever since their first year, Yuga Aoyama had grown to be a close friend to Izuku despite traumatizing him from artisan cheese platters for life. The half-french male had moved from Japan once they had graduated becoming a pro under a french hero for some time before finding that his passions were in fine jewelry, inheriting his family's generations old store.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"I can't believe we're going to Europe…" Ochako was still reeling from the news, astonished by the events that took place that night as she and Katsuki walked into the apartment, coming home from celebrating the wedding news.

"Speak for yourself" Katsuki yawned, checking the time on his watch. It was definitely time for bed for him.

"O-Oh… I just…" she naturally had _assumed_ that they were on the same page. An all-expense paid trip with Katsuki seemed like an utter dream to her. And she supposes that, that's all it'll ever be because judging by his tone he didn't seem all too keen on wanting to request time off for his childhood friend's big day.

"Hm?"

"N-Nothing! I'll bring you back a bottle of fine french wine if you're skipping out"

Katsuki caught a glimpse of her crest-fallen face. It wasn't that he didn't want to travel with her, it was just the fact that he was a damn workaholic. He knew that if he asked for any time off, his chief wouldn't hesitate to give him as much as he wanted off. They'd tell him how much he deserves it and how much good he's done by serving his community. Blah blah blah. As if he hasn't heard that spiel before.

"We'll see Sweet Cheeks… still got a whole month to plan" he tiredly says already dreaming of his nice plush bed when his phone rings. Groaning, he picks up and curses.

A second later he hangs up and nearly whimpers when Ochako asks him what's wrong.

"Got called in to work, some fucker decided to set off fires on all ten floors of the Shibuya 109 building" he isn't looking forward to going to work just as his body was adjusting to a decent bedtime again.

"Will you be okay?" she asks, tilting her head, worried that he won't be as focused while on the job.

"Nothing I can't handle, 'sides all I need is six shots of espresso to wake the fuck up" he simply shrugs, not realizing what he was doing as he cupped her chubby cheeks in his palms and leaned down to kiss her forehead, "don't wait up for me" he whispers against her skin, lips lingering for a moment until his presence is gone.

Ochako stood frozen in place at his tender action. It wasn't until she heard the door click close behind her that she realized he was gone.

After that, there was no way in hell that she could fall asleep on her own. Instead, she went to the bedroom to change into a pair of comfy cotton shorts and one of his old oversized shirts that Katsuki was nice enough to give her.

Once she was changed, she went to the kitchen to prepare a nice cozy cup of milk and honey, adding vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg to give the warm drink a little spiced boost. As she had her pot boiling on low heat on the stove, she figured that she might as well make sugar cookies to go along with her midnight snack.

All alone in the dead of night in Katsuki's apartment wasn't something that has happened before until now. Ochako was left stewing in her thoughts as her entire environment wouldn't allow her to forget about the tall feisty blond that was anything but a bad boy. Like an unrefined diamond, Katsuki's true colors shone to only those deemed worthy of the diamond in the rough.

If it wasn't for Ochako returning into the forefront of his life, he would be living the same routine day in and day out. Bed at a decent hour, cooking for one, and finding ways to keep Camie out of his place. It wasn't the most exciting life but it was his bachelor's lifestyle.

He could be hooking up with anyone he so desired with a snap of his fingers if it weren't for Ochako occupying all his free time and now even his living quarters because she can't seem to bring herself to tell him that she's renting a new apartment she has yet to actually live in due to eagerly accepting his own offer.

' _Have you ever stopped and wondered if he's just as into you as you are with him?'_ the first half of Mina's words come haunting her as she's holding onto a bowl of raw cookie dough, mixing it with a wooden spoon.

Ochako meant what she said.

No, she hasn't put much thought into whatever the hell this is between them knowing damn well that something has one-hundred percent shifted in their development.

That lingering kiss goodbye he gave her before leaving spoke of _more_ ; spoke of something her gears were slowly deciphering.

But wish as she might, she knows that what she wants in life aren't the same wants as his.

Or so she thought.

Or so she had convinced herself of.

If this was a _true_ friends with benefits situation then emotions wouldn't deeply root themselves so much into the web of the bed they've made for each other. Emotions wouldn't get in the way of her getting exactly what she needed his help with: getting a boyfriend. Emotions wouldn't scorch her soul and seep into her very bones of his passionate fire if she only agreed to reciprocate what she's taking from him. Emotions wouldn't diminish what resilience there was to not falling in love.

"Falling in love…" she thinks out loud, feeling that twisted feeling squeezing her insides again. The butterflies begin to flutter in the pit of her stomach when she thinks of his intense glances, of his rough hands that can be so gentle with her, of the way he puts her first above himself whenever they're together, of the way he can read her like a book, and of the way she's the only recipient of his true genuine smiles.

In that moment of true clear clarity, one that isn't clouded by impatience and negativity – she's starting to see that what she's feeling for Katsuki wasn't a mere projection of her hopes and dreams of a future she had been painting with a mysterious figure. All along, it has always been Katsuki.

She was so convinced that it wasn't real due to her first picturing him in her wet dreams before diving in head first into this complicated relationship with him. She knows that deep down in her heart, she's never once forgotten of the boy who inspired her. The one who pushed and pushed until ultimately breaking her until she was nothing but stardust. In those rare few times he helped her train during their school days, he reminded her of the infinite power to launch things outside the realm of the stratosphere held in the tips of her padded fingers.

Katsuki has always been in her life one way or another and no matter how many years they went without speaking to each other – she's never once forgotten of those lingering feelings she once had for him. It wasn't a full-on crush (as she had been too wrapped up in Izuku until that abruptly ended with their awkward confession) but it definitely felt more than what a person felt for an ordinary friend. Those unresolved feelings stayed paused in her core until they were able to flourish within her now with having him back in her life. Those feelings have been properly nurtured as adults and came back with a vengeance, reminding her that they never once left her.

Katsuki is special to her as much as she hopes she's special to him like Mina told her.

She wants nothing _more_ than to mean s _omething_ to him as she comes to one startling realization.

"Oh my god, I'm in love with him!" she gasps, dropping her bowl of cookie batter onto the kitchen floor with a loud reverberating clank.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Uhuhuhu. I've got nothing else to say other than, I'm looking forward to writing the next bit of this story. Still don't know how long of a journey it'll be but we shall see~

Next Time: Two Truths, One Lie

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	15. Two Truths, One Lie

AN: _**Happy Kacchako 2019!**_ Like a mad woman, I've uploaded 1 new one-shot and updated 2 other stories so now it's time for this one to get updated yet again! WHOO! I'm on a roll!

Thank you all so much for your continued support and to the newcomers, welcome to my little corner of Kacchako hell! ;D

A HUGE shout out to _**FadhiliTheOne:**_ your review literally left me "ASDFGHJKL" and smiling like a big dummy. It's always nice to see familiar readers in the comment section! Haha, so true about the crickets. /Cry. It always makes me happy to see when people can relate or get ideas from my stories. AHH! Just thank you, you're awesome!

Ps. Did someone order a mildly _**spicy**_ chapter? Yes, please!

Happy reading~ :D

Two Truths, One Lie

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Shouto loves the fact that he and his beloved Izuku are polar opposites. Where the dual-toned male is quiet and reserved unless irked or passionate enough to speak up, his emerald-eyed partner was always vocal to speak up and quite the busy-body.

So it came as absolutely no surprise to him anymore as he cozied up in bed with a good book before bed when Izuku came rushing in as if wearing shoes sculpted by Hermes himself.

"Shou-chan!" Izuku deeply gasps, greedily sucking in air as his back hunches over while placing one hand on his knee and extended his other out in front of him holding two sheets of printer paper. "I…" he huffs, "got them!"

Shouto tilts his reading glasses down to give his fiancé a look, "got what?"

The green-haired male's wheezing was the only noise in the room for what felt like forever until Izuku composed himself enough in order to run and jump onto the bed as if making a cannonball without a body of water.

"Concert tickets for Kacchan and Ochako! They surprisingly have the same taste in music…" he crinkles his nose for a split second as he happily settles himself on top of Shouto, straddling his legs.

"Izuku," Shouto begins with a sigh as he takes off his glasses and places his book on the nightstand, "I've told you not to meddle" he lectures as his hands slowly settle on Izuku's thighs.

"I-I-I know!" he hesitates to sound serious, "I did promise you that I wouldn't try helping their _complicated_ relationship," he avoids eye contact, focused on the wrinkled papers in his hold, "but there's no harm in gifting them something nice while in Paris…" he begins to blush, already knowing that Shouto can see through his innocently-meddlesome plan.

Shouto gently takes the papers from his hold placing them right next to his book as he silently grips Izuku's hip with one hand, his other travels underneath the shorter male's shirt, feeling up the ridges of muscles with his cold hand.

He feels Izuku shiver from his icy touch, "I know what you're doing and it's not going to work" Izuku swallows as he can't find a stronger willpower within him to look away from Shouto's fiery gaze.

Not even One-For-All could help him in this situation!

Before he even knows it, Izuku's leaning further into Shouto, following his touch while straddling him. Slowly he feels his body arch down as he scoots further to sit on Shouto's torso. He places his palms flat against clothed hard muscles, feeling his own body betray him when a weight presses against his belt being skillfully looped out of their ringlets.

Izuku shudders, mentally cursing himself for being too eager to share his own excitements. He and Shouto have never once lied to each other, being together for years, they've grown together as both pro heroes and as people. Being adapt and well-versed in each other, Izuku couldn't bring himself to keep what he knew about Katsuki and Ochako to himself for very long once Shouto finally moved back to Japan.

Shouto and Katsuki had never really gotten along, merely tolerating each other throughout high school so the dual-toned male felt indifferent learning about the blond's special arrangement with the brunette although part of him did have some concerns.

Ochako is his friend after all, he cares about her woes just as much as Izuku, so naturally part of him felt wary about Katsuki's intentions but not enough to get directly involved.

They're all adults now, this was no longer the school's dormitory drama they once knew.

"It's cute of you to assume that you can resist me" Shouto smirks, holding Izuku's belt in his hand before dropping it with a small 'clank' onto their bedroom floor. He doesn't bother to unbutton or unzip his lover's jeans just yet as he tightly grips Izuku's hips causing him to slide back down as Shouto sat up adjusting his position so that Izuku could feel his growing arousal.

Izuku bites down on his bottom lip _hard_ as a small whimper escapes him.

Shouto can feel the vibrations coming off of Izuku as he guides his fiancé's stiff arms to wrap around his neck while his other hand continues to roam underneath the loose t-shirt, index finger torturously circling around the freckles on Izuku's back that he's memorized.

"Izuku," Shouto leans into the crook of Izuku's neck, "you promised me" he whispers against heated skin, "that you wouldn't" his lips pause for a second, ghosting over his skin feeling Izuku quake, "get involved in" his lips resume, touching home base as he feels Izuku go rigid under his touch, "Ochako's life" he licks up the column of his throat feeling it pulsate against his tongue.

"I…" Izuku deeply blushes, arching his head back, "haa… I… haa…" he struggles to form words, "I'm" he mumbles squeezing his eyes shut when he feels Shouto begin nipping at his sensitive skin, "S-S-S" he can't even think when his hands subconsciously grip on white-red locks, "Sorry!" he squeaks out when he feels the freed pressure from his tight jeans not realizing when Shouto had undone the restraints on the denim material.

Izuku swiftly pulls away to cup Shouto's face in his sweaty palms, "you're evil!" he stammers out as Shouto sweetly kisses his inner palms. He doesn't reply right away, instead causes Izuku to grow even more flustered by simply _not_ doing anything. He stops his exploration, settling his hands to his sides and just gives him this _look_.

Izuku knows that Shouto isn't really mad or upset with him, knowing what great lengths the next Symbol of Peace would go for Ochako.

He loves Ochako as if she were his precious little sister. Was it so wrong of him to want to see her finally happy? She deserves the world and if destiny crossed hers and Katsuki's paths together then Izuku would wholeheartedly support it.

Everything he's ever hated about Katsuki was now in the past. They're grown past their faults, past pointing fingers at each other, past their teenage-testosterone fueled bouts, past not understanding each other and came to respect each other as adults.

No matter how far they had drifted apart, there would always be a part of Izuku that longed to mend his broken friendship with the person he's affectionately nicknamed, 'Kacchan.' It was no easy feat gathering the broken pieces and fixing them back in place – it took years of slow progress but they were finally at a comfortable spot in their friendship.

Izuku has every confidence in the world that Ochako's heart would be treasured as it should be, held in Katsuki's hands. The hero in him wanted to do everything in his power to safeguard his friends' genuine feelings for each other and continue to watch the flickering flame grow into a full beautiful blaze of their love. He might even go as far and call himself, their number one supporter if only he didn't have Eijirou and Mina competing for the same title.

"Izuku, I love you and love your selfless heart but Ochako is a big girl, she can handle her own love life"

"I know and I mean it when I promised you that I wouldn't obsess over this. I just think it'd be nice to gift them something they can enjoy together. When in Paris, right?"

"It's no Rome" Shouto playfully rolled his eyes, "just let them figure this out, okay?"

Izuku's smile reappeared on his face as he nodded, "you got it!"

"I mean it"

"So do I"

Despite his words, Shouto still gives him the _look_ that Izuku could only think of stopping by kissing him on the lips before shortly pulling away to discard his shirt somewhere on the floor. Taking the bait, Shouto picks up from where they last left off, flipping Izuku straight onto the bed and kissed him senselessly.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Oh was Katsuki _livid_.

"W-W-Wait, Bakubro!" Camie tried latching onto his arm to pull him back into her. "Katsuki!" she tried gaining his attention but all he was seeing was red.

It was no use trying to drag him back into his apartment whenever he got like this. She hadn't seen him get this pissed off in years, somewhat missing his teenage rage, but now? She wished she could take back her words.

 _Camie was on her way towards Bakugou's to go mooch off of him like usual, hoping that he'd make her another bento before heading to work when she paused mid-walk and saw Uraraka at the corner coffee shop that she adores but the short brunette wasn't alone. She was there talking to a tall man with onyx hair but her entire stance and facial expression screamed discomfort._

 _She would've loved to barge in for a few seconds to greet Uraraka and potentially save her ass but she figured that it's a coffee shop. Uraraka could always throw a steaming cup of joe in the dickwad's face._

 _Arriving to her friend's place, Camie used her own key and opened the door. Haphazardly_ throwing her red high-top sneakers off at the entrance, she made herself comfortable by placing her purse and sweater on the couch and then entered the kitchen to rummage through the contents in the fridge.

" _Oh great, you're here" Katsuki groaned, immediately recognizing her black leggings and red crop top. Her body was hunched over as she dug in deep into the fridge for something, her long blonde hair swaying to her side._

 _Coming out of the fridge, she straightened up with a slice of leftover cold pizza in her mouth. Silently she eyed him up and down unfazed by the sight of him wearing nothing but a towel around his waist with water drops splayed across his sculpted body._

" _Well shit dude, I know we're like totes fam and all but you could've at least put on actual clothes" she says through mouthfuls of crunchy pizza crust._

" _Well I thought I was getting fuckin' robbed with your loud entrance but instead I see your fat ass raiding my fridge!" Katsuki growled snatching the pizza from her to place on a plate, "reheat that shit, you're gonna get fuckin' sick and I'm not about to nurse your dumbass back to health" he lectures as he throws her pizza into the microwave._

" _Whatevs, Mom" Camie chuckles, "go put on pants or somethin'" she shoos him away, watching him go back to his room._

 _Katsuki returned by the time the microwave timer beeped, wearing a white shirt with his favorite aji fry brand lettering in black and a simple pair of grey sweat pants._

" _If you're looking for lunch then take whatever you can find, I'm not in the mood to cook" he tells her, plopping down on his couch, shoving her belongings further away from him._

" _Thanks" she winks at him continuing her venture to find food while opening cabinets and drawers for things, "oh by the way, I like just saw that cutie with the booty at that lit coffee shop"_

 _Normally Katsuki would ask her to speak like a normal person but he knows who she's referring to. "Okay?" he raises a curious brow, unsure of what she's getting at._

 _So what if Ochako went to go get coffee?_

 _By the time he woke up, she was already gone. Which in that moment, he was grateful for since he didn't have to deal with explaining his new living arrangements to Camie._

" _She was talking to some dude, he was mad cute but he kinda gave a dick-ish vibe" she shrugs her shoulders, pausing her collection of canned foods to look at him from across the room, "if I were her, I'd get his number before pimp slapping him and walk away"_

 _Katsuki deathly gripped the remote control in his hand as he asked, "did the fucker have black hair?"_

" _Yeah! Omg, how did you know?" she nods while licking her lips, "He was also wearing a scrumptious cop outfit. Like, I know you're a firefighter and I've got nothing but mad love for ya 'cuz you're my homie and I'm on your team but since I deal with both departments, there's just something special about law enforcement that gets me going" she sighs dreamily, opening a bag of chips with a loud 'pop.'_

" _I'M GONNA KILL HIM!" Katsuki roared, throwing the remote back onto the couch as he jumped up and went to his closet to fetch his metal bat. Once he had it, he set it down next to him as he sat on the small step of the genkan and slipped on his white sneakers before heading for the door._

" _What!" Camie hastily threw her chips on the island counter to run towards him, his sudden outburst taking her off guard._

And that's how Camie found herself trying to pull Katsuki back into his apartment as her feet struggled to gain traction in order to stop his motion in the middle of the hallway.

"Camie, let go!" he yelled, fighting through her strengths as he pushed one leg forward.

"No! You're totes gonna cause a disservice to the female pop. by nuking a hot dude!" she cried as her muscles strained to keep hold of his burning skin.

"Good! One less sick fuck in this world to worry about!" he barked with a maniacal laugh rumbling in his throat.

In the end, Camie forcefully let go when her senses wafted with the scent of sweet burning sugar. She yowled, swatting her hands in the air to cool them off. Katsuki's body temperature rose as his skin began turning a slight red hue.

Falling on her ass, Camie watched helplessly as Katsuki entered the elevator. She didn't understand why he got mad at the mere mention of someone shamelessly flirting with Ochako. Sure, Uraraka didn't look like she was into it, in fact, she looked like she was in defense mode but in Camie's eyes, the guy was undoubtedly attractive.

It was then that the blonde let it sink in, remembering something from the time she watched the U.A. sports festival broadcast on her phone as a second year at Shiketsu High. That _look_ in his eyes when he faced the pink chubby-cheeked gravity manipulator was something she'd never forget. An all-knowing smile graced her lips as she fell back, laying there on the hallway floor as she hoped and prayed things would work out in the explosive blond's favor.

"Go get your girl"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

After her heavy life-altering realization, Ochako cleaned up her mess in the kitchen and forced herself to fall into a dreamless sleep wanting to give her restless heart a calming break. Tried as she might, she failed to _not_ dream about Katsuki. Her brain likes to remind her of all the times he's been sweet and caring to her. And then it likes to remind her of Mina's words which was another kick to the gut there.

It must have been at the crack of dawn when she felt her back tingle from the presence of someone getting into bed with her. She was curled up, facing the wide windows of the bedroom with a scrunched-up face pretending that she was still asleep as she felt the weight of the mattress sink down with a familiar warmth and smoky caramel invading her senses.

She deeply inhaled feeling as if she were getting embraced by him. For as close as they were sharing a bed, he kept to his side in an invisible barrier. She fought the urge to fall back into him to get more of his comforting heat, laying there stock-still as she felt him adjusting in his spot with a tired sigh.

"I'm home, Angel Face" she heard him sleepily mumble before the room was filled with quiet snores.

It made Ochako's heart nearly leap out of her chest.

She definitely needed to get up and get an early start to her day!

Waiting another twenty minutes to make sure that he was completely knocked out, Ochako checked the time and slowly snuck out of bed to go shower and leave the apartment.

With her mind racing and her heart not giving her a break, she knew she wouldn't be able to efficiently do her secretarial job. She called in sick and then personally called Hitoshi, the security guard who she owed one too many favors already to and asked him to further cover for her with Nejire's endless questions. Hitoshi didn't particularly like talking much, not really being a social butterfly but knew how to sway the blue-haired fairy's interests.

Ochako left the apartment wearing a black short-sleeve shirt, purple mid-thigh plaid shorts, her usual black tights and yellow high-top sneakers for a splash of color. With her hair tied into a messy bun with her two long bangs framing her heart-shaped face, she puckered her lips and put on plum tinted lip gloss and made her way out with just her phone and wallet in her pockets.

She'd later have to see Katsuki one way or another in order to get back inside the apartment. Until then, she'll try not to get too worked up about seeing the man that makes her heart flutter like crazy.

"Okay now where to…" she talks to herself as she walks down the hallway, debating if she should get breakfast at the local coffee shop around the corner and waste some time there or finally fully check out her secret apartment. Part of her didn't even want to deal with her new place, feeling guilty with the fact that she's been lying to Katsuki about it. She had been so eager to spend any given time she's blessed with, with him that she couldn't bring herself to reject his sincere offer.

Ochako's currently living with one truth: she's in love with him and one lie: she told Katsuki that she's still searching for a new apartment but in truth, she's wasting money renting an apartment that has yet to be lived in.

Her second truth comes in the form of the encounter she's been dreading: dealing with Shindou once and for all.

In the end, she chose to spend her morning at the coffee shop. Ordering the house special latte and a breakfast sandwich. She was in the middle of eating her toasted sandwich when a shadow blocked her view of the cashier counter.

"I've finally found you, Ochako!" a cheerful voice greeted.

Ochako dropped her half-eaten sandwich back onto the cute porcelain plate as her body began shaking.

Nothing has ever scared her as much as having a persistent stalker. Not the League at the USJ when she was a teen, not the feeling of the overwhelming negative raw power via a news broadcast of All For One making himself known to the public, not the countless dangerous rescue missions she did as her time as Uravity – none of those had shaken her core as much as knowing that as a woman in society, she was susceptible to the lurking dangers of a man not knowing what the word 'no' meant.

She could easily overpower him with her strong quirk sending him flying across the small café but she wasn't about to make a scene again like she did with her disastrous date with Neito.

"I thought I've told you to leave me alone, Shindou-san" Ochako tells him with a forced smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"May I sit down?" he asks as he does so before she answers, "So, we're no longer on first name basis?"

Ochako chugged down the last bit of her latte. Losing her appetite, as much as she hated wasting food, she left her sandwich behind and stood up.

"You lost all my respect the moment you started acting possessive" she narrows her eyes, not caring that he was in uniform. People were usually polite to officers in public unless they were in trouble with the law. But she didn't care about how intimidating he appeared, rather, she was starting to get pissed that he couldn't just ignore her. As far as she was concerned, they were strangers.

"Your phone has been disconnected so you probably didn't get my text letting you know that I've been going to therapy plus keeping up with my anger management classes" he slowly begins, getting up to stand in front of her, "I know what I did was wrong and you're a person, not a prize to be won" he smiles, trying to be as charming as possible, "I'm ready to face our faults and move forward!" Shindou bravely leaned over to hold her hand as he felt her shake, "So how about it?"

Ochako knows she's definitely been affected by Katsuki's influence, "you can go fuck yourself!" she grits her teeth, snatching her hand out of his hold and brushed past him, bumping shoulders.

She told herself that she wouldn't cause a scene inside. Grateful for the sounds of the coffee machines, blenders, the chatter of patrons, and orders being yelled out masking her own growing anger.

Shindou grabbed her hand once again, stopping her from leaving. All instincts told her to twist his wrist and make him submit to her but she wouldn't do that in such a public place.

"I apologized, Ochako, what more do you want?" she had to applaud him for being such a good actor, almost sounding convincing.

"For you to understand that I don't want you in my life!" she harshly pulls away again, "'Our' faults? What, 'our' faults?" she questions out loud feeling the sting of tears, "More like 'your' faults, Yo" she avoids eye contact with him, "If you…" she hesitates with her honesty, "if you hadn't hurt me both physically and emotionally then we'd be having a completely different conversation here"

Ochako wasn't going to deny the fact that she foolishly thought he could be her _Mr. Right_ before getting to know the real him. She learned the hard way that Yo Shindou wears a mask. Behind an attractive face was an ugly monster lying in wait of its next prey. He was suave, charismatic, thoughtful, a real crowd pleaser, and worked in law enforcement.

What woman wouldn't want him?

Ochako had to close her eyes for a moment, her memories replaying the night she allowed their relationship to go all the way. The logical side of her knew that she was rushing things but she didn't listen to herself. So desperate for love that she had the worst night of her entire life. She went home barely able to walk and crying her heart out, feeling like a victim even though she had consented.

"Oh so suddenly it's only 'my' fault?" Shindou raised his voice, following behind her as Ochako exited, "You're just as guilty here, you dumb bitch!" his nostrils flared, he reached for her again, turning her around to face him, "It's Bakugou, isn't it?!" he yells, tightly gripping her shoulders as he shakes her, "You won't give me a chance because you've fucked him, haven't you!" he continues to shake her like a leaf as she winces. His entire persona quickly changed, from being fake and civil to enraged and possessive.

Ochako didn't know how to deal with men like him, never having to in the past.

It terrified her.

"Unless you want me to bash your fuckin' head in then I advise you to step away from her!" Katsuki seethed as he smacked his metal bat against the rough palm of his hand.

Shindou let go of Ochako, wanting to raise his hand and hit her but he was on duty and didn't want any problems. He would gladly arrest Bakugou but if only he actually did good on his part to physically strike him. He was starting to see that no matter what tactics he tried, Ochako would never be his, for she already belonged to the blond.

Katsuki prided himself in being fearless and intimidating to villains without the need to look like a damn delinquent in the process but at that moment he couldn't care less.

"Fine, take your whore!" Shindou checked left and right for any on-lookers as he shoved Ochako away from him. "Good riddance" he says as he walked away. He wasn't going to bother any longer on her, having already wasted enough time as it is. As he left the couple, Shindou gripped his phone before deleting her out-of-service number in his contacts.

Ochako uncontrollably shook with wobbly knees.

"I… I… I…" she stuttered as she flinched when she felt a warm hand takes hers.

"Not here, Angel, let's go" Katsuki whispered

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Katsuki led Ochako back to his place, thanking all the deities of the known universe that Camie had already left. He plucked the sticky note that she had left on his front door with his teeth, already knowing she probably left a lewd comment on it.

Throwing his metal bat onto the floor with a loud 'clank,' he immediately regretted it as he felt Ochako flinch again at the noise. With his hand freed, he crumbled the sticky note in his hand before throwing it away as they made their way to his bedroom.

In the privacy of his bedroom, he finally let go of her hand as he watched Ochako crumble in front of him.

"I was…" she tried finding her voice, "I was so sc-sca-scared!" she cried, dropping onto the edge of the bed, "He… he hurt me!" she gasps for air, trying her hardest to make sense of her words, "he hurt me and stalked me" she let the hot tears freely fall as she felt the salty liquid touch her lips, "he found me no matter where I went" she rubbed at her eyes as her body convulsed, wracked with emotions, "no matter how scary it got," she feels her pulse picking up with her final confession, "the one person I wanted to save me was you, Katsuki, and you did!" she sobbed, an ugly noise escaping her quivering lips as she sniffled.

Katsuki listened intently to her as he stood in front of her. With a small nudge of his knee to hers, she allowed him closer to her body. "I'll always be there to save you, Ochako" he confesses as he gently swiped away her tears with his thumbs. "That fucker won't be bothering you anymore"

She gripped onto the front of his shirt, unable to bear the way he looks at her. Leaning further into him, she covers her face in her fists gripping his shirt as she continued to cry being overtaken by her immense relief of finally being freed.

"Don't take his words to heart, ya hear me?" Katsuki placed his hand over the top of her head, "you're not a whore and you're most definitely not a dumb bitch" he whispers, caressing her hair as he briefly closes his eyes, taking in her silent wails.

' _And worst of all, you aren't mine'_ he thinks back to Shindou's assumption that just because Ochako has slept with him, then they were obviously together. Shindou couldn't have been farther from the truth and Katsuki hated that.

Under the pretense of their agreement, Katsuki opened his mouth while gulping down how jumpy his pulse felt within his throat. His heart thundered against his chest as he pulled away from Ochako to cup her chubby cheeks causing her to look up at him with a tear-streaked face.

"Let me treat you like a Queen, Ochako" he begs, eyes darkening with a surge as he licked his dry lips.

He was never any good with words, didn't know how he could make her feel better by just stating that 'everything would be okay.' That felt cheap to him. No, he _needed_ to show her and _hope_ that part of her feels what he's trying to convey to her. His deep dark secret of being madly in love with her, of wishing she'd be his alone.

"O-Okay" she sniffles trying to stop her blubbering, taking his right hand off her cheek, she kisses his inner palm and nuzzles against it, "show me"

Katsuki gives her a lop-sided smile. Through her vulnerability, he found a special type of beauty there. One that she didn't show the world but has shown him countless of times now. She was physically strong but also sympathetic and empathetic – everything and anything but fragile. And as he's personally learned time and time again, it's okay to cry, it's okay to let someone in.

This is what Ochako shows him every time she lets her walls fall in front of him – _Trust_.

She trusts him with not only her body but her heart and soul.

"I…" _'love you'_ he can't bring himself to say it just yet. Shaking his head, he shuts himself up by tenderly leaning down to capture her lips. He kisses her carefully like he's handling a cloud, not wanting to rush this, instead patiently waiting for her to stop quivering and kiss him back.

He pulls away for a moment once her whimpers grew softer. Taking his time to make her lay down on the bed as his body follows her, sitting on his knees in-between her legs as he takes off his shirt. She adjusts, placing her head on a pillow as she arches her torso up to make it easier for him to unbutton her shorts. Effortlessly, he slides them off, leaning down again to pepper her tummy with slow-brushing kisses, lifting her shirt up a bit to feel more of her skin.

He smirks against her flushed skin when she lets out small puffs of air, failing to cover an on-coming moan. Peeling himself away, he curls his fingers underneath the stretchy material of her black opaque tights, rolling them down as he hears her gasp. When he has those gone, he scoots closer in, firmly gripping her leg to lift it to balance on his shoulder blade.

Ochako does the mistake of looking at him. Katsuki's lustful gaze being too much for her when he kisses her ankle, his nose gliding across the inner side of her leg all the way to her inner thigh with small nips as he lowers his body along with her leg to grip it against his waist. He keeps his hand there and with his other, he rests his arm on the side of her head, elbow firmly cushioned to support his weight over her.

He slides his hot tongue over the junction of her neck and shoulder, teeth lightly grazing her pulse point as he lets a needy groan rumble through him.

"Angel Face, look at me" he softly pleads against her skin, his voice an octave deeper with his desires as he lifts his head to check on her.

Ochako still couldn't look at him as she turned her head away to stare at the wall to her far left. All traces of Shindou gone from her mind and now fully focused instead on how Katsuki's making her feel. She subconsciously raised a fisted hand to her mouth in order to bite down and try to drown out her moans.

Katsuki, with much care, pried her hand away from her mouth. "Let me hear you at least" he bargains when she's not letting up. He goes back to showering her neck with new blemishes while his free hand explores underneath her shirt, finding the rim of her bra.

She loudly moans, arching her back as she presses herself closer against him. Whenever they went this far, she wasn't afraid or embarrassed to become vocal but the way he was treating her today felt different. She could feel it with every fiber of her being so when she found her lithe fingers weaving through his spiky blond hair, she felt like he was worshipping her.

Satisfied with getting her to relax and enjoy herself, he gets up from the bed to take off his remaining clothes and rummage through his nightstand for a crucial foil packet. He knows about Ochako's switch in birth control but they haven't exactly been practicing safe sex lately either.

"Katsuki…" she starts, sitting up on the bed in order to unhook her bra and take off her shirt, "I… uhh…"

Katsuki hears the hesitation in her voice and pauses. It'd take him more than a cold shower this time to recompose himself but he was willing to stop if she suddenly didn't want to. "We can take a raincheck if ya want?"

"What?! N-No!" she clasps a hand over her mouth, having sounded too strongly about her disappointed, "Tha… That's not what I want, I just…" she discards her clothes and looks up at him, "I just wanted to thank you, that's all"

Katsuki didn't want to fall back onto the, _'that's what friends are for'_ excuse because he knew it was utter bullshit. He'd do anything for her regardless of their relationship. They didn't need to be anything in order for him to be a decent human being and save her when she needed someone there for her.

"Can I accept your gratitude by requesting something?" he rubs the back of his neck, growing flustered himself by what he's thinking of.

Ochako let her hair down from its bun as she tilted her head curiously at him, "um sure, what… what do you have in mind?"

He takes a second to respond, thinking about how this wasn't as far-fetched as everything else they've already done together but it still felt weird saying it out loud. "Sit on my face" he requests.

She nearly rolls off the bed at his words. "Y-Y-You want my… and y-your f-face… uhh… d-down th-there…"

If Katsuki was being completely honest, this wasn't the first time his mind has gone down into the gutter. Often finding himself daydreaming of having her strong thighs crushing his head as he submerged himself into her taste.

"I did say I wanted to treat you like a Queen, didn't I?" he cheekily replies, crossing his arms over his bare chest as he waited, holding the foil packet between two fingers.

An electric silence swept over the room, both of them stark naked but neither moving from their places.

Ochako's shy chocolate doe eyes locked onto his crimson gaze. They were beautiful like melted rubies but yielding this hidden passion that was begging to be released. It's then that she's one-hundred percent convinced he's truly worshipping her.

"Okay"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"What's so damn important that ya have us coming to Kichijoji?" Katsuki grumbles while adjusting the flaps on the collar of his denim jacket while tugging on his baby hairs at the nape of his neck to cover the still fresh red-streaked claw marks that Ochako left on him.

"Hi, Kacchan! Welcome!" Izuku enthusiastically greeted, ushering the blond into his apartment, "Uh, where's Ochako?" he questions when he doesn't see her anywhere.

Katsuki rolled his eyes as he scooted over, turning both arms over to his right as if he were directing an airplane on the tarmac to show Izuku where Ochako was currently hugging the wall.

Ochako was holding onto the wall while walking at a snail's pace. She's aware that she's being overly dramatic and exaggerating how sore she feels but after an extended session with Katsuki, she's entirely burned out and exhausted.

"Hi… Bun-Bun…" she weakly greets.

"Sweet Cheeks, we don't got time for this!" Katsuki pinches the bridge of his nose as he stomps over to her, sweeping her off her feet as she lets out a small squeak and wraps her arms around his neck.

Izuku could definitely feel like there's been a shift in their dynamics. Whatever it was, it was certainly going in the right direction.

Katsuki gently set Ochako down on the couch as he whispered, "sorry, burning daylight here"

He fought the urge to kiss her cheek, instead he plopped himself down next to her while Izuku closed the front door and offered them snacks and drinks.

"I could use sugar and an energy shot injected directly into my veins" Ochako mumbles, sinking into the softness of the couch.

Izuku chuckled as he took out a box of pastries he had purchased earlier that day. "Sorry, Shouto drank the last can of battery acid we had but I do have coffee and cake"

"Coffee! Cake! Yes, _please_!" she sleepily cheered.

While Izuku busied himself in the kitchen, Ochako was succumbing to the clutches of sleep, meanwhile Katsuki was having none of it. He leaned into her side and poked her pink cheek in hopes that she'd wake up.

When that didn't work, he made sure Izuku wasn't watching and whispered into her ear, "c'mon, I didn't tire you out that much did I?"

Ochako deeply blushed.

After her revelation of actually being in love with him, she didn't get much sleep, maybe a solid five hours. And then she had gotten up early and dealt with Shindou and then after that she and Katsuki not once left the privacy of his bedroom. Not even for dinner, as they went at it like two primal animals in heat until the sun rose over the horizon.

They had to get up early in order to come over to Izuku's when he suddenly called to invite them over. In total they've probably had less than three hours of sleep but while Ochako was internally dying, Katsuki looked like he was ready to go run a half-marathon for charity.

"How are you not a zombie right now?" she skips over his question, too embarrassed to actually reply.

"Stamina, used to fucked up sleep schedules, and I drank eight shots of espresso" he counts off using his fingers.

"Cheater" she groans while trying to savor the couch that's currently taking her down.

Izuku returns into the living room with a tray of goodies. Setting a cup of coffee for Ochako and a cup of herbal tea for Katsuki with two slices of cakes.

He takes his own cup of tea and dessert as he settles himself across from them.

"So what's this about?" Katsuki asks on behalf of himself and Ochako.

"Shouto wanted me to wait until Paris but seeing as he's currently out running errands… what he doesn't know won't hurt him"

"Okay, so spill"

"Mhm… what Katsuki said"

"Well… I uhh… I checked the dates and noticed that Deaf Légume is going to be playing at the Salle Pleyel in Paris and know that you two like that band so I… kinda bought you two tickets"

Ochako immediately woke up at the news. "Deaf Légume? Did you say, Deaf Légume?!"

Katsuki took a second to process the news. One, this meant that now he really did need to go to France and two, Ochako has the same taste in music as him.

"Wait, you like Deaf Légume too?" he turned to face her as he watched her clap her hands against her cheeks as she squealed unable to hold in her excitement.

Ochako stared at him as she chewed on her bottom lip, "it's kind of embarrassing but… you're the reason why I like them so much"

"Me?" this took him by genuine surprise.

"Yeah, Kacchan," Izuku agreed, "when you and Jirou participated in that open mic night during our second year's culture festival, you accidentally dropped a copy of your setlist and I was already swamped with other 2-A duties so I had asked Ochako to give it back to you"

"And I never did because I totally forgot that I even had it," Ochako confessed with a nervous giggle, "when I found it again, your performance was already over so my curiosity got the best of me" she explains as her blush deepens, "I just kept it and started looking into the bands that you and Kyouka were planning on covering"

"Huh…" Katsuki slowly nods, acknowledging the new chunk of information. So that's where his setlist went. He had gone crazy trying to look for it all over the place before the show. Kyouka was the first to give up and told him that they should just improvise. In the end, they had a great performance but mainly stuck to doing Deep Dope covers.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Izuku spoke up, feeling compelled to apologize in advance for his impulsive gift giving, "I know that nothing's set in stone yet and I don't want to pressure you two into coming to Paris to attend my wedding"

Ochako shook her head as a bright smile graced her lips. "Of course not, Bun-Bun! I can't speak for Katsuki here but I'll definitely be there and greatly appreciate your sweet gift. You're already doing too much"

Izuku chuckled at that, waving his hand in front of him, "anything for you, Ochako"

Katsuki knew that, obviously, there was nothing between her and Izuku. He damn well knew that it was silly to get rubbed the wrong way by their closeness but he still did.

It's then that his mind's made up.

"Make that _us,_ ya damn nerd" Katsuki wasn't about to thank him for the concert tickets nor confirm that he never intended on missing his childhood best friend's wedding despite how he personally felt about asking for time off.

Surprising them both when he said, "we'll _both_ see you in Paris" as he smirked.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Now this bad boy took quite awhile to write and edit and it's honestly one of my favorites.

Deaf Légume is a completely made up, fake band name. I used a random band name generator for it. Haha.

 _ **To those that were maybe waiting for Shindou to come and make a big mess of things or feel disappointed by the way I handled his final conclusion:**_ Truth be told, I never intended for him to be some major plot device, he was just a mistake Ochako made but y'all seemed to like him a lot. So, while his conclusion wasn't a super explosive one – I've thought over his end over and over again, and came to a final one that had to be civil for multiple reasons.

Next Time: Girl At The Rock Show

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	16. Girl At The Rock Show

AN: I'M BACK! Thank you for being patient with me and for the continued support! I was going to update sooner but then KH3 happened and well, yeah. But now, it's time to get to updating my BNHA fics!

I'm honestly glad that I didn't update sooner because my brain likes to throw in new additions any time I take too long to start typing and instead just find myself staring at my Word doc for a long time. I'm super pumped for what'll be happening in this chapter and the next!

Happy reading~ :D

Girl At The Rock Show

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Oh god, this is not happening!" Ochako squeaked, shielding her face away with both her hands. She tried shrinking herself in her seat, pushing her body closer to the cool window.

Meanwhile Katsuki sat next to her laughing his ass off to the point he had tiny pearls of tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "This is too fuckin' funny!" he roared, wrapping his arms around himself as he greedily sucked in air. His legs hiked up, kicking the seat in front of him as he tilted his seat back with his laughter.

"I'm getting off! I can still purchase a later flight for a twenty-hour connecting trip rather than this thirteen-hour one!" Ochako started to unbuckle her seatbelt, feeling her hands nervously shake as her heart raced.

This was not how she planned to start her trip to France.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

 _Izuku and Shouto had gifted all their friends a first-class round-trip to Paris. Sitting in the front rows had its perks but not when one Neito Monoma just so happened to pass by the narrow aisle into the business-economy section._

" _Well, well, well, if it isn't Ochako and her psychopath" he started. Neito has never had a filter and as the years passed, that part of his personality had gotten worse. He was well aware that his 'date' with Uraraka had ended in disaster but his ego wouldn't allow him to put the blame on himself, rather, on the fact that he just wasn't into the brunette._

" _The fuck did you say?" Katsuki started, glaring at the obnoxious male in front of him._

 _Neito ignored him, tilting his chin up with the tip of his nose raised high. Clapping his hands once he called, "oh stewardess, can someone fetch me a leash?" he turns his head towards the entrance of the plane, not caring that he was holding up the traffic in the aisle to board, "there's a feral animal on board" he finishes right as he looked down, straight into the temperamental blond's seething eyes._

" _You motherfuc–"_

 _Katsuki deathly gripped onto the sides of his seat, ready to get up and start a fight when Ochako placed a hand over his and shot up from her seat. "It was so nice seeing you again Monoma!" she nervously giggles, leaning over Katsuki to pat Neito's forearm. Activating her quirk, she forced the egotistical male to sweep right through the narrow row and leave their sight. "Let's never have lunch again!"_

" _Finally!" the held-up group of travelers bowed and thanked her as they found their seats._

 _Ochako let out a ragged breath, placing a hand over her racing heart. She just single-handedly diffused a ticking time bomb and helped the flight crew do their job to stick to their departure schedule._

 _Sitting back down, she tightened her seatbelt once again and shyly moved her hand away from on top of Katsuki's to give them arm space. Not knowing what to say to him after intervening, her mind raced for anything to fill in the awkward tension felt in the air._

 _Luckily, she wasn't the first to speak up._

" _Again?" he questioned._

 _Ochako let out a small squeak suddenly remembering how she brushed off the topic of Monoma with him. Accidentally activating her quirk on herself when she slapped the top of her thighs, she started floating in her seat, only being anchored down by her seatbelt._

" _What's up with you, 'Cheeks?" Katsuki gives her a strange look, patiently waiting for her to calm down._

 _Releasing her quirk, the brunette settles back into her seat and looks at her window view. Resting her elbow on the small ledge of the window, she cups her chin into her hand and mumbles out, "I went out on a date with him…"_

" _Ochako, I can't hear you if you're not facing me" he grumbles when she's inching away from his curiosity._

 _She crumbles at the tone of his voice. Damn him for asking twenty questions!_

 _Taking in a deep breath, she slowly turns around like a rigid robot and lets out her breath in a single puff, "IwentouttoalatelunchwithMonomaandIgotmadsoIthrewapitcheroficecoldwateronhim!" she confesses as her chest heaved from everything she just threw out there._

" _Wait, what the fuck" Katsuki tilts his head towards her, "hold up" he says as he bobs his head, mentally breaking down all the information he was just given into one cohesive thought, "you threw a pitcher of water on him?"_

" _Really, Katsuki?" she cutely pouts at him, "I tell you I technically went on a date with him and that's what you get out of it?"_

 _She knows that he's told her since day one that he didn't care who she dated. In fact, he'd rather not know but then after her crappy date with Fujimi and then the whole mess that was Shindou – something in their friendship silently shifted. He'd attentively listen to her, occasionally threw in his own thoughts, but he was never downright annoyed by her tales. Hell, he even saved her from one that shook her to the core._

 _He didn't reply, knowing she wasn't finished. "Ugh, you win" she pinched the bridge of her nose giving into the way he waited for her to further elaborate. "I didn't just throw water in his face, I also…" she gulped, "flipped our table with my quirk…" she twiddled her fingers together, being careful to not connect her pinkies as she felt the pink buzz of energy forming in her tips._

 _It took Katsuki a mere second to process the news before he cackled, falling into a fit of laughter. And that's how Ochako found herself wishing she could escape this embarrassing flight but more importantly the way that his amused laughter reached her heart and made it happily flutter._

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako gripped the metal clasp of her seatbelt preparing herself to jolt up and climb over Katsuki's long legs to get off the still-boarding flight.

"Will you relax?" his gruff voice sent shivers down her spine when he gently placed a hand on her thigh to make her sit back down.

It took Katsuki a good twenty minutes to come down from his laughing high having found the fact that Ochako lashed out on Monoma hilarious. He didn't want to pry any further and ask her for details on what that egotistical bastard did to her but their date clearly didn't go well. He felt a sense of pride for the chubby-cheeked woman sitting right next to him causing him to want to be spontaneous.

"Look, this isn't how I wanted to do it… but it's only fair" he starts by unbuckling to stand up. Opening the storage compartment in where he placed his carry-on backpack, he didn't have to dig in too deep in order to find the key he placed in a single pocket.

The entire time he's doing this, Ochako silently watches him with mild curiosity as he was being vague. Once he's seated back down, he shows her the pink key before placing it in the palm of her hand.

"What's this?" she carefully asks, staring down at the key in her hand.

Katsuki rubs the back of his neck as he tries to remain neutral not wanting his blush to spread into a visible hue. "Your own copy to my apartment… I uhh…" he turns to look towards the aisle he's closer to, "I recently changed the locks so fuckin' Camie can't just bust in whenever the hell she feels like it now that you're staying with me and figured it'd be easier if you just had your own since my schedule is unpredictable sometimes…" he keeps his eyes locked onto the carpeted floor, "this way, you won't have to wait at the nearby café until I come home just to open up"

He knew by wording it this way, he was being a coward about asking her to permanently move in with him. He had made her a copy of his key with every intention to ask her, to finally tell her that he's in love with her.

It wasn't really meant to be a grand surprise per say, he just brought the key along with him so he wouldn't forget to do it back in Japan, wanting to give it to her whenever they'd get alone time during this trip. He tries to reason with himself that this isn't a romantic gesture, merely being practical about her having her own access to his place but he knows - if he couldn't even confess his true feelings to her then this didn't come off as much of a surprise either that he'd curve his own question.

"Katsuki, I…"

Ochako's mind instantly started running, wanting to ask him what he meant. She heard him sure, but the tiny pink key held in the palm of her hand contained too much power. Just as it came with many unasked and unanswered questions.

For now, she was simply going to thank him and figure it all out later but wasn't given the chance when she was interrupted by a greeting.

"Good morning, Ochako and Bakugou!" Tenya energetically greeted as he chopped the air in front of him with his free hand, his other holding Mei's hand.

"Oh great, Four-Eyes and Nuts N' Bolts are together" Katsuki snorts, eying down to the couple's held hand.

"'Mornin' Tenya and Hatsume-san!" Ochako warmly greeted as she smiles and grits her teeth while leaning into the blond besides her "Katsuki, be nice" she harshly whispers while waving at the couple.

"Yes, if you must know, Bakugou" Tenya starts right as Katsuki cuts him off with a gruff, "I didn't" and continues, "Mei and I have been together for well over two-years now. Since I took over my brother's agency, we seemed to have crossed paths when Mei's support gear company came to pitch in a new idea for Tensei. And since he wasn't available to attend the conference, I was and well it's as they say…"

"That that's all fuckin' peachy and all but I don't give a shit" Katsuki rolls his eyes, folding his arms across his chest as he further leans back into his plane seat.

"The rest is history and since then I've made loads of new babies to pitch to other agencies!" Mei finishes off as she plucks out two business cards from her leather satchel to show them. "I even made an online catalog that you can find by scanning the QR code in the corner of my card. I accept custom commissions and have an abundance of stock ready to ship and purchase or place bids on for the more rare and limited items up on my site!" the pink-haired grease monkey gushed as she let go of Tenya's hand to shove the cards, one to each of the pair seated. "No need for formalities, please call me Mei" she brightly smiles nearly bouncing on her feet at the prospect of gaining two new clients.

"That's very sweet of you, Hatsu-erm, Mei, but Katsuki and I are no longer pros" a tinge of sadness hit Ochako, not having had to acknowledge that fact in so long, "we haven't been in years but I'll make sure to pass your name along to those I do know!" she optimistically switched the conversation as she tucked the small card into her pink denim short's pocket.

"Thank you Ochako!" Tenya bowed as he excused himself and Mei in order to place their bags up in the storage space above them.

Katsuki begrudgingly straightened up his seat, annoyed at the fact that Tenya and Mei were seated in front of them now as the couple lost themselves in conversation. It was during those few minutes of washed over silence between himself and Ochako that the overhead announcements begin to let them know that they were ready to take flight.

Ochako subconsciously weaved her fingers with Katsuki's resting hand on top of the armrest as they felt the plane slowly turn away from the airport to correctly position itself on the tarmac.

"Sorry, I'm an anxious flier" she confessed as her hand shook on top of his as he raised his hand. She took it as a sign of discomfort and immediately let go until he turned his hand, palm-up and spread his fingers to show her that he didn't have a problem with it. Ochako's nerves calmed a bit as she took his hand again and felt him firmly grip her once to let her know that he wasn't going to let go until she was ready.

Katsuki only let go of her hand once to use the restroom but right as he sat back down, he grabbed Ochako's hand once again. He felt her lightly squeeze him back as she slumped over to his side having fallen asleep and adjusting her head on his shoulder. When he felt her start to drool, he bit his inner cheek at the sudden feeling of lukewarm liquid trickling down his shoulder. Trying not to disturb her, he bunched up the small navy-blue blanket he had on his lap and placed it between his shoulder and her head. Ochako momentarily moved when she felt him doing something near her head but wasn't conscious enough to check what exactly.

After adjusting Ochako's comfort, Katsuki returned to the book he was reading until the words through his reading glasses grew too blurry for him to continue and found himself drifting off as he rested his head on top of hers.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Alright everyone, please make sure to be ready to retrieve your luggage!" Tenya informed as he chopped the air for emphasis.

"Oi, Four-Eyes, quit actin' like we're on some fuckin' school field trip!" Katsuki grumbled as he effortlessly plucked a large orange hard-shelled suitcase off the rotating belt, "we're a group of grown ass adults attending a wedding and if someone forgets their shit then tough luck" he finishes as he picks up two medium sized pink hard-shelled suitcases next.

Ochako silently bows in thanks as she takes her two and patiently waits for the rest of their party to finish collecting their things.

"I apologize," Tenya chuckles, "I sometimes forget that I'm no longer the class president of our high school class let alone a part-time university professor not taking his students out on a day trip"

"It's a real shame that we aren't," Mei momentarily frowns, "otherwise I'd talk a whole storm about my latest travel-sized babies"

"It's never stopped you before" Katsuki rolls his eyes. He then turns his glare towards Izuku and Shouto who were the last to get their two large luggage and duffle bags since the two couldn't seem to stop flirting with each other. "Oi, hurry the fuck up!" he growls when the couple and rest of the group aren't moving fast enough for his liking.

If there was one thing that Katsuki could never get accustomed to was the drastic shift in time differences. Paris to Tokyo wasn't as drastic as other long-distance trips he's taken due to school or work-related, back when he was a pro hero. Going back a few hours in time never sat well with him. In fact, it made him even more irritable than usual despite having knocked out for the good majority of the flight.

"Did Sleeping Beauty not get enough sleep?" Eijirou literally poked the raging bull, jabbing his pointer finger into Katsuki's chiseled cheek, the blond having lost some of his baby fat from when he was a teenager.

"Don't make me bite you" Katsuki spat with venom as he bared his teeth.

"Ha! That's never stopped _you_ before" Eijirou jeered as he affectionately patted Katsuki's cheek once, _hard_ , with a loud 'smack' and then dodged Katsuki trying to ram his metaphorical horns into his chest as Eijirou took a step back and laughed when the attack failed. Despite his best efforts to not get punched, it still didn't stop his quirk from activating and hardening his body for a few minutes until the adrenaline wore down.

"Ei, play nice," Mina lectured, "you know how much of a pain in the ass Mr. Sunshine can be with time zones" she reminds him taking her boyfriend's hand in hers and guiding him away before Katsuki could say anything about the ironic nickname.

"Mr. Sunshine" Ochako repeats having heard and seen the entire circus act right in front of her, "has a nice ring to it"

"Uuugh" Katsuki let out a long exasperated groan, "not you too Angel Face"

Ochako felt her stomach do flips at the nickname. Of course, it wasn't the first time he's ever called her that but after her revelation of having feelings for him, she couldn't help read further into things between them.

She wished she could boldly reach for his hand but her hands were currently occupied with rolling her two carry-ons'. Walking besides him, she just smiled and commented on her observation, "you're extra grumpy today" she states, "and Mina mentioned something about time zones?"

"Jet-lag's a real bitch" he tiredly replies, "I just wanna get outta this fucking airport, get to our hotel, splurge a bit on room service, then knock the fuck out again"

"Bummer" she cutely pouts, "I was kinda looking forward to us sight-seeing a bit today with Mina and Ei" she confesses having discussed this prior to boarding their plane with Mina and Eijirou about what they'd do once landing in France.

"Fuck everyone" he yawns and adds, seeing as her demeanor changed having taken his words personal, "not you Pink Cheeks but everyone else" he clarifies so badly wanting to comfort her in a physical show of affections but knew he couldn't.

"Well on the bright side, at least we have two weeks here!" she cheers up a bit, relieved that he didn't find her annoying to be around. The last thing she wanted was for him to push her away in any way when all she wants is to grow closer to him. Feeling like she was a magnet constantly being pulled into him but still not close enough.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

 _Katsuki was ready to strangle the next person to piss him off._

" _Do you wanna die before your own fucking wedding, Shitty Nerd?" he glares at Izuku as if the green-haired male had committed the ultimate sin._

 _Izuku lightly chuckles as he stood right outside of Katsuki's hotel room._

The group had arrived to their hotel in the early morning, once checking in they had all dispersed to go settle in and do their own things. Katsuki had done exactly as he said he would – unpacked half his belongings, ordered room service not caring for the ridiculous prices, and then knocked out for a few hours before being rudely interrupted.

Ochako had left him a note on the nightstand to let him know that she went sight-seeing with Mina, Eijirou, Tenya, and Mei.

At first, he was contemplating whether or not to just ignore whoever was persistently knocking at his door so he could knock out again or simply go rip off whoever's head. The latter won when he couldn't fall back asleep. Groggily getting up, he gripped the front door with much force, swinging it open and startled Izuku who held his fisted hand in mid-air before getting to knock once more.

"I'd greatly appreciate it if I was alive and well for my own ceremony" Izuku replies with an amused sparkle in his eyes.

Katsuki couldn't tell if it was pre-wedding giddiness or if Izuku's always been this optimistically annoying. It was grossing him out but he said nothing as he allowed the shorter male into the room. The irritated blond couldn't be bothered to fix his unruly bed hair or go find a shirt as he had slept in only black sweatpants.

"Sorry to disturb you Kacchan but I really need to get this off my chest and since you and Ochako are attending the Deaf Légume concert tomorrow night," he paused to take in a deep breath, "I can't wait to ask you this" he exhaled as he subconsciously looked down to his infamous red sneakers.

"If you're gonna ask me something important then look at me and not the ground" Katsuki grumbles as he plops himself on the edge of the bed.

Izuku collects his thoughts for a few seconds before he speaks up, "Katsuki"

Katsuki raises a curious brow at hearing Izuku say his given name and not the nickname he was so accustomed to hearing. It was definitely a foreign sound to him.

Izuku looked up, bunching up the sides of his pant legs as his hands twisted into the denim material. He felt nervous but excited all the same as he finally said it, "it would be an honor to call you my best man at my wedding"

Neither male said anything for a few tense minutes as Katsuki stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Why?" he found his lips move before he fully thought about it as it reflexively came out.

"What do you mean 'why'?" Izuku frowned, "You're one of my best friend's Kacchan"

Katsuki relaxed at bit at hearing the childish nickname but he was still on edge about this whole situation. "Either you're dumber than I thought or had one too many hits land on your head" he says as it was his turn to look down towards his bare feet on the carpeted floor, "I've been nothing but a bully to you growing up and have done a lot of real shitty things that are unforgivable"

"That's not who you are anymore and it hasn't been you since our middle school days"

"Admit it, I was a real prick to you even in those first few months of high school"

"Kacchan –"

"Don't bullshit me, Izuku, don't try acting all 'holier than thou' and excuse my actions" Katsuki shakes his head, "don't act like it hasn't taken years for us to be able to stand before each other like this and even then I haven't really been there for you"

"Kacchan –"

"I'm a real monster ya know that? I'm a real fuckin' insecure coward that's too hotheaded for his own good. I'm selfish and easily jealous and I sure as hell don't deserve any ounce of happiness" he gripped the bedsheets to rid his hands of the sweat forming, "I sure as shit don't deserve to be your best man, you're better off with your _real_ best friend, that Four-Eyes with the stick up his ass" Katsuki's voice waivered a bit, not realizing until he spoke about how he truly felt about himself that he probably hadn't made his move on Ochako because she deserves someone so much better than him. He knew that Izuku could feel that this was more than simply rejecting to be his best man because his words reflected his raw unworthy feelings towards the bubbly brunette.

"You think I'd let Ochako fall for a monster?" Izuku questions switching topics for a moment, "You know damn well how much she means to me, I love her like she was my own blood, Katsuki" Izuku's green eyes bore into his slumped over frame.

Katsuki was cowering away by not looking him straight in the eyes. He _knows_ that the freckle-cheeked male is being serious. Izuku would take a bullet for Ochako if it meant keeping her safe and he sure as hell wouldn't have allowed her to get close to Katsuki if he was acting like a borderline villain.

"I know" Katsuki whispers, "but I still can't accept your offer"

"I love you too Kacchan and I wouldn't have asked if I didn't mean it" Izuku tries to keep his heart tame as he watched as Katsuki finally looked up at him. He was still frowning and looking unconvinced as they stared each other down for a few seconds.

"I always thought you were a weak spineless jellyfish who bitched and cried over the stupid shit but you're a lot stronger than me, Izuku" Katsuki replies as he fights to make his small smile disappear.

"Yeah well you're a blind stubborn idiot if you can't even see your worth Kacchan" Izuku lightly chuckles, "good people are capable of changing for the better, of growing with experience, and admitting their faults. I'm by no means perfect and I honestly still don't know why Shouto would ever wanna marry me but these insecurities and doubts we have only make us human" he nods once before his eyes and tone soften, "I see the way you look at her"

Katsuki's breath stills in his throat. The mere mention of Ochako gets his heart thumping wildly against his ribcage.

"I know you don't need it but you have my blessing, Katsuki" Izuku extends his scarred covered hand out.

"Hell yeah I don't need your shitty approval, ya sappy nerd" Katsuki rolls his eyes as he hesitates on shaking his friend's hand.

"So how 'bout it? Will you be my best man?" Izuku's hopeful tone rings loud and clear in Katsuki's ears as he kept his hand held up to shake on it.

"Your mistake but yeah I'll do it" Katsuki finally says taking hold of the hand in front of him.

"I'll take full responsibility!" Izuku sniffles as the hot tears begin to roll down.

"Ugh, you're so fuckin' embarrassing" Katsuki playfully groans as he tightly grips Izuku's hand to get up and pulls the shorter male into him for a brief hug which only caused Izuku to wail even louder.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Katsuki! Katsuki! Wake up sleepy head!" Ochako came running into their hotel room with a loud slam of the door and a quick rustle of what sounded like various shopping bags dropping by the foot of the spacious bed.

Katsuki loudly groaned, feeling a mix of arousal and annoyance as he felt a pressure on his lower abdomen as the warmth and friction of Ochako's bottom half teased him. "You should've seen it!" she gasps with a swift grind of her hips as she patted his bare chest while animatedly retelling her morning.

By the time she had returned from her sight-seeing adventures with her friends last night, Katsuki had long since been snoring. Completely in a state of deep sleep as he sprawled himself out on the bed. Ochako knew that she'd have to fight his stubborn limbs for room but was too tired and jet-lagged to do so as she cuddled him like a koala for the rest of the night.

Bright and early the following morning, she showered and got ready for the day seeing as Katsuki wasn't going to wake up for breakfast. She went downstairs to have a meal with everyone and then she and Mina took a taxi courtesy of Izuku who insisted on paying as they toured the high-end shopping locations of the Champs Elysées. There, Ochako had encountered a purse snatcher that she easily took down with her special Gunhead martial arts move.

For the first time in years, she felt exhilarated to be able to do some hero work. Her hero license wouldn't expire until her thirtieth birthday which she still had plenty of years before turning. She left that line of work in order to explore other options but she couldn't fool herself. When Mei had mistakenly thought she was still an active pro and had handed her, her business card – it brought a sense of longing to her.

Being a support hero capable of defending herself and protecting others is all Ochako had ever wanted growing up but then her curiosity got the best of her when she ventured into working for the aerospace agency but all she's been doing is dull desk work. After a while, it had lost its magic of being something new for her to do. Ochako fought herself for so long to come to terms with what she's known in her heart since her current job had lost its edge: she misses being a hero.

When they returned to the hotel, Eijirou politely asked if he could steal Mina away. In that moment, all Ochako wanted to do was run up and tell Katsuki about her morning. Once she bid her friends a short farewell and to have fun, she giddily went up to her hotel room in where she didn't think of her actions as she jumped on a snoring blond.

"I took down a thief!" Ochako brightly smiled as she bounced on Katsuki, "It was so amazing, Katsuki! I haven't felt this way in forever!" she continued to bounce as she failed to hear a soft moan coming from underneath her.

Katsuki had long since questioned when exactly they stopped having any sort of boundaries as Ochako continued to bounce on him. She rambled on about some petty thief who tried to steal an elderly French woman's purse while the woman tried to calm down her scared grandchildren. He felt all his blood rush down south which definitely woke him up in an instant but wasn't helping his growing discomfort.

"That sounds amazing Pink Cheeks but do ya think you can get off?" he hisses as he grips her hips to stop moving on top of him.

When she finally realizes what she's been doing to him, her face flushes as she struggles to not touch his toned chest and untangle herself. "Right! Sorry!" she quickly apologizes not knowing how to get herself out of this mess when she feels his grip tighten on her hips when she frantically moves about.

"Fuck! I give up" Katsuki yells as he lets go and allows his body to buck up once shamelessly.

Ochako cut her moan by chomping down on her bottom lip and rolled off him. "A-A-Are yo-you hun-hungry?!" she awkwardly squeaks out with a loud thud as she rolled entirely off the bed. Bouncing back up she assures him she's fine as she couldn't escape fast enough with the excuse to go find him breakfast.

Katsuki was going to insist that it wasn't necessary, he could find his own food but that wasn't his main priority at that moment. He had another issue to deal with as he looked down at himself and cursed his erection. "Fucking… dammit" he sighed, getting up to go take a cold shower.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako had made every excuse known to man to avoid going back to her hotel room until it was nearing time to get ready for the rock concert that evening.

She knew the sexual tension between them was increasingly growing as they continued to ignore the elephant in the room. Despite what he said about wanting to treat her like a Queen in order to help her – she _knew_ in her heart, downright _felt_ it in her very core that it was more than _just_ trying to comfort her.

They went at it from dusk to dawn, acting like there was nobody else on earth but them and that bed.

Two souls, two bodies intertwining and becoming one.

She knew they should've talked about what happened then, maybe even boldly ask him if it meant anything more than just that. What happened earlier between them was charged with unspoken desires but also showed her just how comfortable she is around him. If they were more, she would've gladly given in.

Ochako lets out a calm breath, trying to turn off her overthinking brain for a second so she could change into her concert outfit. Entering the room again, she heard the blow dryer being used in the bathroom.

Katsuki was probably drying his hair after showering which gave her enough time to quickly change into a red lace bralette with a long-sleeve black mesh crop top over it, a simple gold choker, black skinny jeans ripped at the knees and a pair of black stilettos with gold spikes.

Once she was done with her outfit, she quickly put on a smudge of dark eyeshadow with her fingers and a cherry red lip stain. Her hair was styled into a messy twist with a pair of swords looking gold hair sticks as her long bangs framed her face. While she waited, she was in the middle of spritzing on a bit of her cherry blossom perfume as Katsuki came out of the bathroom.

He was wearing a long black short-sleeve shirt that had in red faux leather text that read 'fxxk u' with holes on the bottom hem, a deep red denim vest with frayed sides littered in Deaf Légume patches and gold spikes on the shoulders, black skinny jeans and his usual combat boots.

What surprised Ochako the most was the fact he has piercings which she's never seen before. On his tongue, he has a red barbell piercing right in the center. On his ears, he has gold arrow industrial piercings at the tops with black studs in both bottom lobes. He styled his hair, being spikier than usual and to complete the look – he was wearing a thin layer of pencil eyeliner covering the top of his eyelid and under waterline.

Her jaw nearly dropped.

"You ready?" he asks without looking directly at her, afraid of complimenting her.

Ochako wished she could do the same as this look of his was definitely doing something for her. "Yeah, let's go" she says as she grabs her red wristlet putting her phone, converted money and her I.D. in it.

They took a taxi in awkward silence, or well on her part as Katsuki ignored her for the taxi driver. Yet again impressing her with his French skills. She could barely order a coffee with a croissant without stuttering on her pronunciation.

Luckily, he had gotten over whatever funk he was placed in when his whole attitude changed. "Sorry I ignored you earlier," he tells her, "you look so fuckin' amazing that I was at a loss for words" he grunts as his face flares up. "I'll go get our wristbands" he vanishes into the sea of people before she could react.

For the remainder of the night, Ochako was left completely in both awe and shock over how bold he was being. It wasn't unwelcomed, just surprising as he offered to dance with her. She felt her heart flutter yet again when he weaved an arm around her waist protectively so she wouldn't fall or get lost as they participated in a mosh pit. Ochako laughed as she helped to pass the lead singer who was crowd surfing without accidentally setting off her quirk. Katsuki quickly pecked her cheek and cheered for her, "that was fuckin' awesome, Angel!" he mouthed with a smile filled with nothing but love.

Ochako and Katsuki were face to face as they sang and screamed the lyrics to each and every song. "STAND UP AND SCREAM! ARE YOU READY FOR IT?!" they yelled as they jumped up and down following the wave of people. At some point she found herself grinding against him as he breathed her in, lips faintly brushing against her angled neck but not quite kissing her.

"Hold on" she barely managed to hear him say as she felt herself get lifted over his head. Ochako gasped as she gripped his hair trying to regain her balance as she was seated on his shoulders. From here, she could see the entire stage, as if she wasn't already close enough.

During the next high energy song, the lead singer was so close to her touch as he sang holding his mic in one hand and the stand in his other. For Ochako, it felt like he was singing directly at her. The singer then let go of the mic stand as he leaned into her and gave her a high-five. The crowd below her whistled and cheered in a mixture of languages but she could've sworn she heard Katsuki yell, "that's _my_ girl!"

Whether he said anything or nothing at all, it still filled her with butterflies. Feeling a new surge of confidence, she touched her shoulders and legs activating her quirk to make herself lighter as she let herself go and be taken with the crowd.

By the end of the song, the crowd had graciously returned her to her spot next to Katsuki and all Ochako could do was smile.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"That was the most amazing concert I've ever been to!" Ochako couldn't stop gushing about what she had just experienced not even an hour ago having just stepped into their hotel room two minutes ago. "Wait!" she gasps, "I didn't nearly stab you with my heels, did I?" she asks right as she takes them off.

"Death by stilettos would sure be one hell of a way to go" Katsuki amusedly chuckles at her concern, "but no you didn't" he assures her as he sits on the provided vanity desk's little bench to take off his piercings.

"When did you get piercings?" she finds herself finally asking as she took off her own choker to place on the vanity.

"Third year when I turned eighteen, Eijirou took me to his cousin's tattoo parlor as a gift"

"Are you telling me that you, Mr. Katsuki Bakugou also have a tattoo?"

"Hmph, why don't you tell me? You've seen naked plenty of times" he challenged.

Ochako blushed, "y-y-you don't"

"Then there's your answer Pink Cheeks" Katsuki smirks, "I just went for the piercings, wasn't really in the mood for a tat and if I ever am, then I want it to fuckin' mean something to me not just be some badass design"

"I s-s-see" she couldn't help but feel like he didn't fully say what he was thinking. Switching topics, she took off her hair sticks to let her hair back down, "thank you for accompanying me"

Katsuki didn't want to fall back into the whole, 'what are friends for' mantra as he silently nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"No Katsuki, I mean, for coming to France with me. I know how much your job means to you and I can't imagine how it feels taking any time off from what you love doing. I had a really amazing night tonight and I'm just happy to be able to share it with you" she shyly confesses.

Katsuki places the last black stud on the table as he kept his focus on her blushing face through the mirror. He needed to do it _now_ before any more time passes. Mentally he reminded himself to thank Izuku later, not just for making all this possible but for believing in him and making him not feel like such a monster.

"Ochako… I…" he struggles to say as he got up from the bench, turning to face her.

"What is it?" she slightly tilted her head, searching his beautiful red eyes, being patient with him.

"I… fuck…" he groaned licking his lips to restart his sentence, "I'd…" he gently takes her hands in his as he keeps his eyes on her as he found his rhythm, "I'd do anything for you if you'd only ask, hell, I'd go to the ends of this shitty world if it'd please you" he softly confesses, rubbing her knuckles with the pad of his thumb, "I'm in love with you" he feels the weight of his words leave his body in nervous anticipation.

Ochako couldn't handle the intensity of his stare as she found herself rapidly slipping her hands from his hold as if he had burned her.

"I… uhh… I…" she tries forming words but in her panicked state, she couldn't as she simply stepped back away from him and ran out the door.

Katsuki painfully watched her go, nodding his head as he finally understood.

Of course she wouldn't love him.

It's what he deserves.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Okay real talk, that ending scene HURT ME SO MUCH TO WRITE. I'm sorry but it had to be done. You can thank my evil semi-angsty brain for that.

Fun fact: title of this chap was inspired by Blink-182 and the concert song they're singing along to by Three Days Grace.

Next Time: Mending The Pieces

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	17. Mending The Pieces

AN: AHHHHH! Thank you so much for the reviews. 101?! That's like my biggest record since my cringey Twilight fic writing days (and oh gawd was that a messy era). Lmao. But no seriously, I had a blast reading your reviews and wish I could reply to all of them!

Seeing my little story get this much love makes me happy to know that this site isn't quite dead yet. I follow quite a bit of fellow Kacchako peeps over on Twitter but they all seem to have a preference for AO3. Which is fine and dandy because AO3 has some really amazing Kacchako fics! But for me personally, whether its 1 or 100 readers on my stories – I'm sticking to FFN. So, thank you again!

Happy reading~ :D

Mending The Pieces

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

An unbalanced pattern knocks quietly against the wood of the door.

Reverberating loudly throughout the quiet hallway as the floor's air conditioning and ice machine echoed with each paused knock.

The knocking didn't come to a halt until a groggy, sleepy-eyed figure finally opened the door.

"Ocha–" he's barely able to get out as his tired eyes blink to focus.

"He says he loves me" Ochako cautiously whispers, afraid that this was all a dream.

She desperately wanted to cry and let her insecurities eat her alive but she was still in shock to do either. Instead, she ran out her shared hotel room, leaving Katsuki all alone and raced towards the elevator. Once the wide metal doors opened, her mind zoned out the melodious opera music as she smashed the highest level's button and ran to the first person she could think of.

"Oh, Hun, come inside" his voice was soft, matching her own shaky one in volume as he ushered her into the spacious honeymoon suite.

"He says he loves me…" she repeats as she awkwardly stands in the middle of the room's living room furniture. The lights were being turned on in the room as she looked down at the carpeted floor.

"What's going on?" she hears a second groggy voice ask from a distance as the first reassures it that it's fine.

"He says he loves me…" she utters the words again, this time feeling a prickling sensation in her eyes.

Ochako couldn't process the news as she let herself get handled. Gently, she's seated on the plush leather couch as she's turned to face her security blanket. "Bun…" she can't even finish calling out to him as a chill causes her to shudder.

She was internally panicking and didn't know how to verbally express it.

"Ochako, breathe" the nurturing voice reminds her as she feels warm hands caress hers on her lap.

She does as she's instructed, fluttering her eyes closed as her entire frame jolted as she blinded her eyesight. "I need you to tell me what happened" the voice quietly says as it lightly squeezes her hands, "remember to breathe"

His voice triggers her memories of the night's she had. Like a whirlwind of high energy, undisclosed desires, and a wish she's longed for – the memories come flooding back as she _finally_ allows herself to break down.

"He says he loves _me!_ " Ochako furiously blinks as the hot tears cascade down her face, " _Me!_ Izuku, _me!_ " she hoarsely cries out, shaking her head in disbelief.

She feels Izuku lean forward, cupping her cheeks in his hold as he stills her frantic face to kiss her forehead. "Why wouldn't Kacchan love you?" he almost chuckles, knowing it's a silly question. Who wouldn't love her? He could list off an entire scroll of why Katsuki would be in love with her. And then list off another solely talking about how amazing she is and so, so deserving to be loved in return.

"Be-be-because I… I… I… scr-screwed up…" she sobs as she hides her face into the crook of his neck, arms wrapping around his body in a distraught mess. She was so tired of crying and feeling vulnerable but this? This wave of emotion was completely different from previous situations.

Izuku allowed her to cry her heart out, patiently waiting for her to calm down enough for them to properly talk. It's during this time as she clutches onto him, soaking his pajamas that he knows that Shouto was up by the sound of rustling coming from the next room.

"What's wrong?" Shouto asks as he approaches them while rubbing at his eyes to wake himself up enough to support his soon-to-be-husband and their cherished friend.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"She doesn't love me" Katsuki reminds himself, shaking his head as he turns off the running water pooling in the bathroom's sink. "FUCK!" he yells as he submerges his face into the lukewarm water and screams to drown out his own painful tears.

The water bubbles with his wails as the excess overflows onto the tiled floor. Coming up for air a few seconds later, he snatches the white towel on the nearby rack to clean his face. Dirtying the towel from the eyeliner and sweat on his face, he throws it on the floor and leaves his room needing an escape.

He doesn't bother to change his clothes and doesn't care how red and splotchy his face looks. Making his way downstairs to the hotel's bar, he sighs in relief that it's still open and empty.

Katsuki sits down on a red cushioned metal barstool and lets his body lean forward on the counter as his elbows touch the cool glass. The countertop of the bar was something he has never seen before, designed as a circular aquarium tube that flowed right into a larger tank behind the clear glass shelves of liquor.

"Give me whatever hard shit you've got" he orders as he looks down at the small tropical fishes swimming about the enclosed counter.

"Best man pre-wedding jitters I presume?" he hears a playful tone ask.

"How the fu- ahh… shit, it's you" he growls out when he finally pays attention to his bartender.

"It's nice to see you too, Katsuki" the female giggles as she ties her long blonde hair into a high ponytail before grabbing a shot glass and something aged for him.

"'Course you'd be here," Katsuki can't help but snort, rolling his eyes, "Melissa"

"It is my cousin getting married after all" Melissa sets a bottle of cognac on the counter, "and my dad couldn't attend the wedding so I'm here on behalf of him with Uncle Toshi and Auntie Inko"

"Your old man still sore about the breakup?" Katsuki questions while impatiently waiting for her to pour him a drink.

Melissa Shield is an American scientist's daughter whom he had met during the I-Island Expo during the summer of his first year of high school. She was bright and optimistic but born quirkless. As his school years went by, through Izuku, he had somewhat found himself befriending the blonde. She'd often make visits to Japan due to attending tech expos or just to make family visits with the Midoriya-Yagi household.

It wasn't until his third year that Katsuki learned that Melissa's dad David used to have a thing with the hero he had grown up aspiring to be like – All Might. David and Toshinori were ex-lovers that had a messy falling out but it didn't stop them from having a professional and civil relationship.

He remembers Melissa telling him that the time her dad and Uncle Toshi were together had been some of the happiest memories she has of her childhood growing up but she understood why they were no longer together.

Through her own familial relationship with her Uncle Toshi, she got to meet Izuku who later became like an adoptive cousin to her. And through Izuku, she also gained a mother figure in Inko – her Uncle Toshi's wife. Of course, she felt for her dad, but David wasn't against Toshinori's new union.

In fact, she and her dad had attended the wedding. David had nothing but kind words for Inko (who no doubt cried her eyes out at having his blessing which meant the world to her).

This time due to work, David, and not for any other reason, wasn't able to attend Izuku's wedding. Instead, he had left Melissa to relay the message of giving his best regards to his 'adorable freckle-cheeked nephew' and his husband-to-be.

She gives him a somber smile but shakes her head. "He's fine, I mean, I won't lie to you. He has his moments but when he sees how happy and in love Uncle Toshi is, he's happy too. Anyways this isn't about them, this is about you" Melissa leans closer to him over the counter, carefully examining his swollen eyes and tear-streaked cheeks. "You've been crying" she states as she grips the cognac bottle debating if she should pour him a drink or not.

"Yeah well, that'll happen when you get shot the fuck down" Katsuki bitterly tells her as he tries to keep his composure, "I just told the most incredible woman that I'm in fucking love with her and well…" he shakes his head, switching topics not wanting to continue wallowing.

His eyes lock onto the bottle recognizing it as being expensive, but he frowns at it. "Got anything stronger?" he asks as he watches Melissa give him a sympathetic look.

"Katsuki, I don't think…" she's about to try to convince him that drinking away his sorrows won't help in the long-run.

"My quirk metabolizes and burns off the shit I drink too fast so," he deeply sighs as he gives her a pleading look, "please let me be a dumbass for one night and fuck me up"

Melissa would rather be a friend to him and give him a lending ear. Spending the night talking to him but she knew this was Katsuki she's talking to. He didn't do touchy-feely conversations where he'd allow himself to be vulnerable. And after hearing why he wanted to get plastered right away, she almost couldn't deny him the desire to simply forget everything for a single night.

"You know you can always talk to me, right?" she reminds him as she turns around to rummage through the clear shelf behind her to get the one bottle in the shape of a skull hidden in the way back that she knew could do the job.

"Yeah, I know" Katsuki says softly, "I appreciate it but I'm just not in the mood"

Melissa returns to the counter with an unlabeled bottle with an unnaturally neon green liquid inside. Taking a shooter shot glass, she fills it a little before the top rim and carefully slides it his way.

"I'm only giving you one since it's more than enough" she tells him as he silently nods, holding the glass up to his face to check the amount she gave him. It was definitely a lot more generous than he thought she'd give him for how he's internally feeling.

Lost in thought for a second, Katsuki barely catches what she says as he tilts his head back. Quickly, he downs the drink, feeling it rush down his throat.

"I'll see you in the morning with medicine" she warns him as her voice grows an octave deeper getting warped. He blinks once and her figure becomes distorted, then he blinks twice and Melissa is gone, the third time, he's left seeing Ochako in her place.

She wasn't kidding, one shot was more than enough to fuck him up. Especially when she gave him more than a normal shot's amount.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Eijirou was snuggled up comfortably with his beloved cradled in his arms as he softly snored. The balcony's window of their hotel room was slightly open to let the chilly autumn night air in while the sheer curtains swayed. Noises of the busy Parisian streets echoed into the dark room but wasn't a bother as much as the hotel's phone ringing loudly on the night table.

"Eiji… get that" Mina cutely groans as she tries burying her face further into her pillow.

"Uuugh" Eijirou untangles one arm from Mina's warmth to pat his hand around the table top to reach for the phone without accidentally crushing it with his strength.

"Hello?" he mumbles out as he hears a familiar voice on the other end. The conversation didn't even last a minute before Eijirou hangs up and gets out of bed.

Mina wanted to ask him who called and if everything was okay but she couldn't escape the clutches of sleep that had a vice on her. Instead she only slightly whimpered at the loss of skin contact as the mattress dipped and regained its form a second later.

Eijirou fumbled around the room to find his discarded boxers and pajama bottoms in the darkness not wanting to disturb Mina by turning on the light. Not caring to put on an actual shirt, he grabs the hotel's provided robe and slips it on.

He makes his way down to the bar having been summoned by the strangest phone call he's ever had. Being called to pick up an apparently very drunk and hallucinating Katsuki at nearly three in the morning isn't how he planned on waking up to get an early start while vacationing.

"You don't love me and I gotta live with that…" Eijirou hears Katsuki as he walks over to him. The blond leans into the counter while his index finger circles the rim of his empty shot glass.

"Please don't resent me, Angel, I can't… I can't…" he shakes his head, voice trembling on the verge of tears, "you're a part of me… dammit" he looks down and chuckles to himself, "I'm a fool for ever thinking I had a chance" his breath shudders, "this is why I was… better off guarding my heart"

Eijirou frowns, now fully awake, he walked closer to gently place a hand on Katsuki's shoulder. "Hey, Bud, what's wrong?"

Katsuki slightly turns his neck to see that it's only his best friend. "Do you wanna hear a joke, Ei?" he asks with glassy red eyes.

"Um, yeah, sure" Eijirou slowly replies as he gives Melissa a silent questioning look.

"Me!" Katsuki sways a bit in his seat, "I'm the joke!" he slaps a hand against his chest to emphasize his words and then looks directly at Melissa who he's envisioning as Ochako and points at her, "that's why this Angel won't ever love me for me and ya know what?" he chuckles again while struggling to control his lips from wobbling into a desperate cry, "she's absolutely right, she deserves the world, Ei, the _freakin'_ world and I can't compete with that" he repetitively shakes his head as his eyes burn with the sensation to cry, "no, I can't, no, no, no… I can't"

As Katsuki rants, Eijirou leans over to Melissa and whispers to her, "what the hell did you give him?"

The red-head watches as the blonde nervously twiddles her fingers together and gulps before answering, "I might have… given him… a full shot of absinthe"

"MEL, WHAT THE FUCK!" Eijirou raises his voice in surprise as the blue-eyed woman in front of him shrinks in her place.

"You should've seen him, Eijirou, he looked so broken!" Melissa tries defending herself, "I just… didn't think he'd have this kind of reaction to it"

"If Katsuki ever tells you to 'fuck him up' then you give him mixed cocktails and straight shots of fireball, hell, give him vodka for all I care but not absinthe!" Eijirou annoyedly groans, "this dumbass had homemade moonshine one time that Denki made at the dorms during our second year and that was not a fun time bringing him back to the land of the living"

"I'm really sorry Eijirou but I just… wanted to help" she winces as she and Eijirou hear a loud thump of a body collapsing to the ground. A second later they hear hysterical laughing to the point the laughter morphs into an unfiltered tortured sob.

"C'mon, Bud, I've got ya" Eijirou sighs as he patiently tries lifting Katsuki off the ground by the arm.

Like a newborn baby animal, Katsuki struggles to get up until he's being support and staggering by Eijirou's side.

"She doesn't love me Ei," Katsuki slurs after his tears calmed down a bit, "I made her run away from me…" he gives the red-head choppy information, bits and pieces that only make Eijirou even more confused on what exactly happened. How could, what was supposed to be a fun concert date end in disaster?

"What's wrong with… _me_?" he questions out loud as if wondering if he's such a horrible person that he wasn't even worthy of an explanation from the brunette that rejected him. He would like to know at least that much - why she couldn't love him.

He could respect her wishes and only wish in return that they could remain good friends despite the physical relationship they've once shared. He knew he was a complete idiot for ever agreeing to being friends with benefits. Truth was, he had always been attracted to her, even downright had a small crush on her in high school that he never pursued.

"Dude you're not making much sense and once you're sober enough, you bet your spiky stubborn ass that I'm drilling the hell outta you for info" Eijirou lectures as they reached the elevator. Pressing to go up to Katsuki's level, they didn't wait long and went up.

Inside Katsuki's room, the blond finally speaks up, "I should have never gone to Pikachu's wedding" he deeply frowns as he lets go of Eijirou's support to pat around the cold mattress to find his balance and lay down on the edge.

His hot back hits the cool mattress, sinking into the memory foam as he spreads out his arms and runs them up and down the sheets as if creating an imaginary snow angel.

"You don't mean that" Eijirou crosses his arms over his chest as he watches his friend take in a deep breath and closes his eyes.

"I do," Katsuki nods up towards the ceiling, "a heart's a heavy _freakin'_ burden and mine just got pulverized" he turns his head to feel the clean sheets against his heated cheek.

"Get some sleep, Kat, I'll come check up on ya in the morning" Eijirou shakes his head not wanting to get into Katsuki's nonsense speech. He doesn't hear the blond say another word, instead being greeted with soft snores as he lifts each leg to take off his boots. He properly places him on the bed as he used his hardening quirk to help him lift his friend's body which felt like a ton of lead.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"I need to fix this before I make it worse" Ochako deeply sighs.

She finally calmed down, retelling her evening to Izuku and Shouto who had her sandwiched in-between them on the couch to comfort her. They hugged her, listened to her side, and then offered her a box of assorted chocolate truffles they had just purchased earlier in the day.

"Katsuki isn't my favorite person in the world but even that poor bastard deserves a proper explanation" Shouto honestly says what's on his mind as he thoughtfully chews on a chocolate.

Izuku nods as he leans over to get a candy too from the box, "I know you love him, Ochako, and understand why you ran away but in Kacchan's eyes… you just rejected him and I can't imagine how he'll treat you from now on unless you two talk"

Ochako nodded, sniffling as she heard them loud and clear. "If he pushes me away, I… I…" she tries to tame the prickling sensation in her eyes, "I deserve it but I won't stop trying. I really do love him. He's kind and thoughtful and he's been so good to me and I'm the jerk who walked out on him" she frowns.

Shouto tried to hide his little snort at the mention of Katsuki being 'kind' and 'thoughtful' because while he agreed that Katsuki wasn't a total asshole, he was still a lot of work to put up with. Something that he commended Ochako for having the patience to deal with.

Through the pain in her voice he knew this was real. As her friend, he wouldn't judge the person she's chosen to be with unless he absolutely was against it. But he wasn't. "You're not a jerk" he speaks up, "you were just caught off guard at the sudden very-Bakugou like confession"

"That's the thing" Ochako presses her back further into the couch, "he didn't shout out his confession to me," she tilted her head up to look up at the detailed ceiling, "he was so sincere and _nervous_ , he stumbled a bit before telling me and I immediately went into fight or flight"

Izuku could only whistle. For as long as he's known Katsuki, this was a new side to him that he's never heard of. Of course, he'd always have Ochako's side first no matter what but couldn't help but feel for how the blond was treated. He knew that if Shouto had ever done that to him then he'd be an emotional wreck for _months_.

"Ochako– " Izuku was about to tell her that she seriously needed to fix this as soon as possible when he gets interrupted by an incoming text. He pauses to get up and get his phone as Shouto takes over and tells Ochako how he's surprised by this news never expecting Katsuki to have a _soft_ side. Ochako can't help but giggle and tells him that he'd be surprised by Katsuki's private side which only causes her heart to flutter in longing.

Izuku returned a second later with phone in hand but still hasn't checked it. Sitting back down in his spot, he finally unlocks his phone to see the unread text from Eijirou. His eyes scan over the contents as he curses. "Oh shit"

This gains Shouto and Ochako's attention as they watch him close his phone and shakes his head. "It's getting late," he fakes a loud yawn as he stretches his muscles, "why don't we try getting as many hours of precious sleep as we can get while the moon's still out?" he gets up again to be the first to leave back to the adjacent bedroom.

Shouto could read his fiancé like an open book, knowing that there was something he clearly didn't want the brunette knowing. "He's right, we've got a busy day tomorrow with wedding stuff" he agrees as he tells Ochako that he'll bring her a pillow and blanket to use.

"This sure does bring back memories" Ochako smiles with a tinge of amusement at the fact that she'll be occupying their couch once again. "Thank you for everything" she sincerely tells them as both Shouto and Izuku help her get comfortable on the couch.

"You really don't have to tuck me in, ya know" she playfully rolls her eyes as she got into bed and has their looming figures hovering over her.

"Our couch no matter the location or continent is always available to you" Shouto joked as he leaned down to kiss her cheek before leaving for bed.

"I love you, Ochako, now get some sleep and I know things will get better soon" Izuku whispers as he leans down to swipe her bangs up in order to kiss her forehead.

"To the moon and back" she tells him as she gives him a watery smile back, "thanks, I really hope so"

Izuku turned off the lights in the living room once Ochako was set. Inside the hotel's massive honeymoon bedroom, he walked over to his side of the bed and slipped in.

"Care to fill me in on what you're not telling her?" Shouto was quick to get to the point.

"That idiot went and got drunk" Izuku shakes his head.

"Okay, that's a… somewhat normal reaction so why is it a big deal?"

"Because of Kacchan's quirk, it takes a lot for him to get plastered. So when he does, he doesn't get drunk, he gets shit-faced wasted and depending on what has him feeling down is how he reacts. I can only imagine he's feeling heartbroken right about now"

"Has this happened before, him being heartbroken?"

"I wouldn't say heartbroken, but he was devastated. The last time I've seen him completely torn was during our first year when he thought he was at fault for All Might's end and we tossed each other around the school grounds. The only time I've actually ever dealt with him getting toasted was when Denki had the bright idea of making Mineta's family secret moonshine recipe in the dorms and that was not a fun time" Izuku cringes at the memory, vaguely remembering why Katsuki even dared to try it in the first place. He recalls it had something to do with the feisty blond suffering from reoccurring nightmares and the even rarer night terrors episodes and wanted a break for a single night from them.

"Kacchan's never been in love with anyone but himself and his goals but then…" he genuinely smiles at his next words as his voice grew fonder, "Ochako happened and it's the happiest I've seen the both of them be in years"

Shouto leaned into Izuku giving him a peck on the cheek which surprised the green-haired male. "What was that for?" Izuku chuckles as he cups his tingling cheek.

"Your big heart" the two-tone male says as he starts feeling sleepy once again, "you really love them"

Izuku finally turns off the lamp on his side and snuggles up to Shouto, "I do but I'll always love you the most"

This gets a chuckle out of Shouto as he hums in agreement, "I know"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

In the morning, Katsuki was in for a rude awakening.

He slowly pried his swollen eyes opened to see the light coming in from the opened curtains and a tall figure with familiar spiky ash blond hair standing before his bed.

"Why am I not surprised?" he croaks out as he groans a moment later from the way his head begins to instantly pound, rattling his brain around.

"Have I've been such a terrible mother to you that you really won't tell me who your mysterious girlfriend even is?" she asks as her stilettos click towards the opened pink suitcase halfway opened on a chair. She plucks out the first thing she sees in there – a cute orange bra with two black dots and an x-design on both cups.

Katsuki's heart plummeted at the sight of the gaudy undergarment. Ochako had bought the set online when she discovered a whole line of pro hero themed lingerie. There was even an Uravity version, but she was far more amused by his. While he was no longer Ground Zero, it was still nice to see that he wasn't forgotten by marketing companies but that still didn't excuse that Ochako had cheesy taste in clothes sometimes.

She had been so excited, in a fit of giggles when it was delivered to his place wanting him to do the honors of unboxing it. Claiming she had only bought it because it was a rare limited edition item that was sure to be worth more later down the line. Plus, he had called her a weirdo since she wanted to see if he had a kink for getting off on his own merch that he wasn't aware of.

She was such a dork which almost brought a smile to his lips at the memory but then he frowned remembering that she apparently doesn't love him.

"There's no girlfriend" Katsuki whispers as his head hits his pillow again.

"But there was someone wasn't there?" Mitsuki quietly asks, already being thrown off by his neutral tone.

When she busted into his hotel room, she had expected him to yell at her, demanding to know why she stalked him all the way to Europe. She did no such thing, having already been in France for a good two weeks prior to learning about his plans to travel on his personal social media accounts.

Mitsuki was invited to the fall pro hero fashion week show. She didn't have her own segment in the program for once but was a part of a few collaborative works. Helping talented new up and coming designers get their foot into the industry. She and her husband Masaru were both there for work and today was a free day for the couple. Masaru didn't want to impose and ruin his son's vacation but Mitsuki didn't care. Any chance she got to bug her son was a blessing in disguise.

Truthfully, she was a little miffed by his attitude, expecting him to be energetic and loud in his surprise at her sleuthing around, having found out which hotel he was staying at with ease (also having a network of connections helped too). She was feeling giddy with the prospect of catching her son red-handed with his mystery girl, but it never came.

"Mom…" Katsuki begins as he shudders, trying to control the pressure in his sore eyes, "I know you love Dad and chased after him but… was there ever a time that he didn't love you?" he sincerely asks, being curious for once on his parents relationship, "Did Dad ever reject your advances? Did you ever think about giving up on him?"

Mitsuki was taken back by his sudden questions. In the past, growing up, he never wanted to hear about his parents dating life. He had repeatedly told his parents that he didn't care and for them not to tell him anything about their gross courting. It probably didn't help that Mitsuki took pleasure in making her son cringe by shouting throughout their two-story home how exactly he was conceived as Katsuki would stick his fingers into his ears and chant a tune loud enough to drown out her teasing.

"Kitty-Kat, where's this coming from?" she softens her tone as she frowns at the way his voice cracks, using an old nickname that he hasn't heard since he was a little kid.

"I uhh… finally took your advice and fell in love" Katsuki's head was hurting with the pressure of his hangover and the sensation to cry again as his eyes began leaking to his sides while he avoided eye contact with his mother, "but she ran away when I told her how I truly felt and well… it _sucks_ " he was feeling like a part of his soul was missing and didn't have the strength to curse in the way he usually expressed himself, "It _freakin'_ hurts"

"Katsuki…" Mitsuki sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her son into her embrace as Katsuki let himself cling onto his mother for once and broke down in her arms.

It took a lot to take down a powerhouse like Katsuki. He was intelligent, confident, courageous and a hard-worker. He survived countless of traumatic events from being kidnapped to held hostage to thinking he ended the era of their world's greatest hero. He's survived countless of injuries, concussions, and broken bones. But the one thing to completely destroy him was knowing that he'd never be loved by one petite, bubbly, brave, sweet Angel Face.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Oh! There he is!" Mina loudly whispered to Ochako as the two sat in the hotel's lobby. They were currently waiting for the engaged couple and Tenya and Mei to come down and meet them for lunch. But also, Ochako was hoping to catch a glimpse of Katsuki to either invite him to join them or gain the courage to speak to him alone.

She wasn't sure on her plans just yet but her face lit up at the fact that he was finally up. Turning around in her seat to look in the direction Mina was staring by the elevators, her face instantly drooped.

"He looks awful" she says as her breath stills. This was her fault. He looked damn good but she still knew this was her fault.

Katsuki came down wearing a maroon colored turtleneck that did little to hide his chiseled physique underneath, with black skinny jeans ripped at the knees and combat boots. He looked like a model ready for a full spread in a fall fashion magazine. Especially with the black sunglasses he was wearing indoors.

"Are you gonna try talking to him? I'll tell the others you couldn't make it to lunch?" Mina kindly offered as she took out her phone ready to text the group the change of plans.

Ochako looked down at her jittery fingers. She was wearing a light grey turtleneck tunic dress with black opaque tights and suede ankle boots (her newest pair to her limited collection of shoes) with two bobby pins on either sides of her long bangs in an x-formation.

She weakly nods as she gets up from the plush seat, "I don't want to make things any more awkward between us. He needs to know that I feel the same"

"You've got this, Sweetie!" Mina cheered for her as she jumped up from her seat to take Ochako's hands in hers and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "Go get your dream guy!" she winked as it caused Ochako to slightly blush.

"That's if, he'll even talk to me" she gulps, as her jelly-like legs turn her in the direction of Katsuki who appeared to be texting someone on his phone.

"Hi… Katsuki" Ochako nervously greets once she's standing a short distance away from him. "I was h-hoping we-we c-could talk abo-about last ni-night?" she stutters her question out, wanting to kick herself for sounding unsure of what she wanted.

She couldn't tell if Katsuki was looking directly into her guilty pleading eyes with how dark his glasses were. They stood there in total silence for what felt like ages until she heard him clear his throat. "I can't right now, Ochako, I'm meeting up with people" he simply brushes her off in a robotic tone.

Of course he wouldn't want anything to do with her right now.

"Oh! I… I se-see!" Ochako lightly gasps as she takes a step back, "Ri-Ri-Right! Silly me! I wouldn't want you to keep them waiting!" she forces a giggle out to act normal. Part of her was curious on who he was meeting up with when their small group had all traveled together unless he has French friends' he's never mentioned to her. He did have a life that didn't revolve around her after all. And then the other part of her felt like boldly grabbing him and kissing him senseless to apologize for the major misunderstanding she's caused because she does want to be with him.

Katsuki gave her a firm nod and small huff as he walked away, heading into the direction of the hotel's bar. He left Ochako standing alone as her legs felt like giving out on her. She now felt his pain, the feeling of being shot down and left all alone, stewing in her own negative thoughts.

Mina watched the whole thing go down and immediately trekked over to her best friend.

She was about to speak up and say something optimistic when Ochako shook her head. "He needs space and I honestly deserved that"

"No, you don't!" the pink woman protested, "One way or another, Katsuki _will_ talk to you!"

"I don't want to force him into doing something he's not ready to do himself" Ochako frowns as she watches the gears start spinning in her mischievous friend's head. She wasn't about to act pushy with her feelings when she only had herself to blame for this situation in the first place.

"I'm ninety-five percent sure the plan I've got cookin' is gonna fail but at least he'll know how you feel!" Mina doesn't want to sugarcoat it as she gives Ochako a serious look and raises her hand out, "Are you willing to try it?" she asks.

Ochako didn't want to put a wedge further into her and Katsuki's fragile relationship as it stood now. She had the feeling that this plan was going to do more bad than good but what more did she have to lose? If she could show him how she feels, as stupid of a plan as it may be, she was willing to try anything to get him to see that she too wasn't afraid to put herself out there.

"I'm in" Ochako shakes Mina's hand to seal the deal.

Come hell or high water, she was going to show Katsuki she loves him back.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Wow! Was this an emotionally packed chapter! Took me a few days to finally get it done as I listened to all my angsty, late 90's-early 00's alt rock/metal, grungy music. Haha.

What disastrous plan does Mina have in store for Ochako? I do wonder…

I promise that the next chapter will focus a bit more on Ochako's side of things and further explore this more melancholic side of Katsuki!

Side note: Moonshine and *absinthe (*contains a hallucinogenic component) are both strong alcohols by proof/volume. It was fun researching different alcohols to see what could fuck up Katsuki. LOL. I'm sorry mah boi, but I had to do it to ya!

Next Time: The Rehearsal Dinner

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	18. The Rehearsal Dinner

AN: ASDFGHJKL; IT'S HERE! Uhh… sorry not sorry for the wait? I've been typing up a storm with a bunch of new one-shots, updated my vamp au and even finished my hanahaki au fic. So… go check all that good stuff out if y'all haven't yet! And you can bet that there's even more on the way! I just needed to update this first before anything else.

And of course, thank you so much for the continued support on this lil fic of mine! Getting to hear that you've been eagerly waiting for this chapter and even getting to talk to some of y'all over on Twitter has been awesome! I'm honestly really enjoying Twitter to have that line of communication opened and not to mention the Kacchako community there is great all around.

Enough of my ramblings!

Happy reading~ :D

The Rehearsal Dinner

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Katsuki _knows_ exactly what he just did.

Brushing Ochako off wasn't easy but it needed to be done.

He just… couldn't. Not now. He needed time.

The wound was still far too fresh and his emotions all over the place. They'll talk eventually, he promises himself. Because he didn't want to leave Paris without properly closing this chapter of his life. They both deserve that much. He was still just unsure on what he was going to do. Mentally debating back and forth with himself if he was going to leave France after the wedding or stick around while avoiding everyone, especially her.

Of course, he wasn't so heartless as to throw her out of his place once they're back in Tokyo. He had given her, her own key after all. If she chose to stay with him for an extended amount of time then he'd learn how to co-exist with her – despite knowing that she has her own place. Pretending to not know or tell her the truth that Mina had told him were all excuses to keep her close to him. But none of that seemed to matter in his current state of mind.

He makes his way towards the hotel's bar, where he finds Melissa sitting on a bar stool rather than working behind the counter serving drinks. She wasn't an employee there but due to her connections with the hotel's owner – she could practically do whatever she pleased (which is to have access to the bar at all times).

"What happened to having my back?" Katsuki quietly questions without any malice. After his mother had comforted him, she handed him a couple of pills and a bottled water for his hangover. She kissed his forehead and assured him that everything would work itself out. He was grateful but still feeling too numb to fully process her words.

"Sorry, your mom beat me to the punch" Melissa twirls in the seat to face him and shrugs her shoulders as if saying there was nothing she could've done about that while giving him a small apologetic smile. "So, what's on the agenda today?" she asks him while leaning her full back against the cool class of the aquatic countertop, curving her spine with one arm extended behind her in order to reach for the line hose for the mineral water. She squeezed the nozzle to refill her cup with water before placing the hose back.

"Sight-seeing with Eijirou to kill time before the rehearsal dinner tonight" he answers with very little enthusiasm. There honestly wasn't much of Paris that he was particularly wanting to see, having already lived in the city for some time back when he was a pro hero under Best Jeanist's agency. He would've loved to have made new memories with Ochako in the city of love but instead, he successfully managed to have his heartbroken instead.

"Katsuki…" Melissa's tone shifts and he _knows_ what she's about to say.

She's going to try to convince him to not ignore Ochako. That he should go and directly talk to her. That they need to fix this as soon as possible. That he needs to hear her explanation for not loving him in return.

"Mel, just don't. _Please_ " he begs while using her nickname.

Melissa takes a sip from her mineral water and shakes her head. She so badly wanted to show Katsuki the texts she received from Mina this morning. According to the pink woman, after Ochako had left Izuku and Shouto's room, she snuck right back into her own hotel room where she found Katsuki sleeping. The brunette hastily grabbed a fresh pair of clothes from her belongings and made the mistake of kissing him on the lips. Katsuki had been dead as a rock that he didn't stir and then she left to go change in Mina and Eijirou's room. It's there, that Ochako had a breakdown again, thinking she had gotten all her emotions out of her system last night with the other couple of friends. Both her cousin Izuku and Mina wrote to her about Ochako's condition and how it was one giant misunderstanding.

But Katsuki was set in his ways. And this was the first time any of them have ever experienced a melancholic Katsuki. Prideful? Enraged? Confused? Playful? All those parts of Katsuki's personality – they were well versed in but heartbroken? Uncharted territory.

She wants to tell him that the girl he's convinced doesn't love him back does indeed loves him but she can't. Instead she puts on a half-hearted smile and wishes him well when she sees the tips of fiery red hair enter her field of vision with an _extra_ cheery tall male making his way towards them.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Katsuki deeply sighs.

Somber red eyes glance over the little title cards displaying the various flavors of the colorful macarons in the display case in front of him.

"She would've loved this place" he comments knowing he shouldn't be thinking about her.

The whole point of curing his depression was to not wallow in self-pity and he was excelling on rapidly failing. Eijirou wanted a taste of the city's culture as he teasingly joked and pleaded for his best friend to surprise him with something. Especially since the blond had lived here for several months years ago. It was how his French had improved and became nearly fluent in no time.

Katsuki reluctantly took him to this little corner pâtisserie tucked away by narrow alleyways straying away from the beaten path of all the touristic areas of the city. It was a place he had planned on taking Ochako to, already picturing the way her beautiful smile would reach her soulful brown eyes that breathe life into his lungs. He was ready to scoff and tell her that it wasn't a big deal but silently enjoy how happy she is.

Before he had even set foot into the small shop with Eijirou in tow, he had already mentally played out an entire scenario that would never happen. Never getting to hear Ochako gasp, or tug on his arm in glee, or watch her do her little happy dance with wiggling her shoulders while sitting down once she's gotten a taste of the sweets.

"Dude, we've still got plenty of time" Eijirou reminds him as he pops an entire berry red tinted macaron into his mouth and chews, "you can still bring her here"

Katsuki sighs again, delicately holding a vibrant orange macaron between his thumb and index finger trying not to crush the cookie, "it'd just be awkward" he says, already settling on the fact that them going back to being just friends wouldn't be so easy.

It's not like he has an off-switch he can flip on and off as he pleases with his feelings. He made the mistake of falling _hard_ for her. He could live without the sex but to pretend that there wasn't any sexual tension charged between them and that nothing ever happened? It was going to be a challenge and the few weeks they have in France wasn't going to magically fix anything.

"Take her here, take her to the Louvre, take her to the Eiffel Tower, hell, take her to the Ponts des Arts but don't leave this place with any regrets" Eijirou advises. He knows that Katsuki's hurting but he'd hurt even more if he remained stuck on the 'what-if's' of places he wanted to experience with Ochako. And Katsuki would only need to ask in case he felt like needing Mina and himself there as back up to ease off the awkward tension.

When he blond struggles to find an excuse to deny the fact that he wants to do all that with Ochako, the red-head speaks up again. "She doesn't hate you if that's what you're scared about but you seriously need to talk to her, man, and soon"

Katsuki hates to admit that he's right. They do need to talk and they could've resolved everything or part of their current situation this morning if only he had been more willing to hear her out.

"We'll… see" he doesn't want to promise Eijirou that he'll do it right away and it's like the red-head's said – they've got plenty of time to fix things… or possibly make them worse as his pessimistic mind likes to remind him.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Ochako, Sweetie, can you _please_ smile like you mean it?" Mina paused from clicking the center button on her phone's camera app to look at her best friend that looked lost in thought.

"Huh? Oh! Sorry" Ochako meekly apologizes with a small frown. After getting lunch as a group, they all dispersed and went their own way.

Tenya and Mei wanted to check out the Louvre, a library, and a hero-tech support museum. Meanwhile Izuku and Shouto had gone off to meet up with their wedding planner for cake tasting, said wedding planner was sure to be a pleasant surprise for everyone as they had told the group that they'd be meeting him at the rehearsal dinner. And then Eijirou had been a no-show, texting Mina that he was going to spend the day with Katsuki.

That left Mina and Ochako to wander around Paris by themselves. They had walked around the shops at the Champs-Élysées, spent a few hours inside a pro hero inspired boutique as Mina purchased outfits and lingerie the store made based on her Pinky, Red Riot's, and for the shits and giggles – one based on Mineta's Grape Juice designs (it was a lot of skin-tight purple leather). Once they were done in there, they had taken a cruise around the Seine river.

Ochako had almost forgotten about her dilemma until the Seine river cruise. There were so many happy couples and plenty of public displays of affection going around to depress her for a lifetime. It was hard not to imagine that if only she hadn't run for the hills, she could've been enjoying all the romantic aspects of the city by now with Katsuki.

Now she and Mina were at a nearby park overlooking the Eiffel Tower. Mina was trying her hardest to make this a fun day which Ochako immensely appreciated but found herself zoning out more often than not. She knows Eijirou is spending the day with Katsuki, feeling as if her phone was burning a phone in her pocket. The temptation to call the red-head to ask what he, what _they_ were up to, was too strong.

"They went out for macarons and now Ei is regretting ever asking Katsuki to recommend more food options" Mina informs to quell Ochako's curiosity.

This pique's the brunette interest as she tilts her head and asks, "why's that?"

Mina scrolls through the incoming texts and cracks up when she sees the new picture attached. Turning her phone around, she shows Ochako a picture of Eijirou's reaction to trying escargot for the first time in his life.

This causes Ochako's metaphorical little rain cloud above her head to dissipate. Clasping both her hands to her mouth, she lets out a snort and then a louder giggle at the sight. Her heart then flutters at the sight of the next picture, Katsuki had a little amused smile on his lips. Then the next picture was a selfie, Eijirou holding up the platter of emptied snail shells while Katsuki failed to look annoyed at the sudden mood change in the red-head.

"At least they're having fun" Ochako comments. She was happy to see the two men enjoying their outing and that Katsuki was capable of smiling again after the way he looked this morning. But knowing that she wasn't the one to bring that smile out of him stung.

"Wanna go get some sorbet before heading back to the hotel?" Mina asks while taking Ochako's hand in hers as if it were up for debate.

Ochako silently nodded and followed her friend.

Little did she know that Mina had snapped a quick pic of her smiling and laughing at Eijirou's reaction to the classic French hors d'oeuvre and sent the picture directly to Katsuki.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Katsuki didn't check his phone until he was back at the hotel. After going his separate way from Eijirou, towards his own room to get ready for the important dinner of the evening. He took a shower, styled his hair into a formal faux-hawk, combing the sides of his unruly hair but keeping the top and his bangs spiky.

He was adjusting the crystal diamond flower shaped cufflinks on his dusty pink long-sleeve dress shirt when he decided to check what he missed.

A couple of cake pictures from the wedding couple with Izuku jokingly buying him a cupcake that had 'Best Man Kacchan' written in icing.

A few texts from Camie complaining to buy her some macarons.

A single pic message of his parents behind the scenes of the fashion show.

And then there was the pic message from Mina of Ochako looking angelic as ever.

He had to set his phone down for a moment after that. The stupid grin forming on his lips was proving to be a hassle to disappear even as his heart thumped in ache and want.

Katsuki ditched the silk tie he was planning on wearing and instead unbuttoned the first few buttons on the top of his shirt. He adjusted his black leather belt, made sure his black dress pants weren't wrinkled, and that the pink oxford dress shoes he borrowed from Eijirou were tied before stepping out.

As he made his way downstairs to the hotel's reservation-only restaurant, he couldn't help but wonder what Ochako was going to wear. Remembering the day she had purchased the dresses for both the rehearsal dinner and the wedding itself. He was already on vacation time for the upcoming European trip with their departure just days away.

Ochako busted into his bedroom as he lounged around laying on his bed as he mindlessly scrolled through stuff on his phone. Only pausing as he watched her with amusement and adoration in his ruby stare. She was hugging both dresses to her chest as they made a squeaky crinkling noise. Both dresses placed in protective plastic cover bags as she twirled once and then smoothed out the plastic to place them in his closet. He gave her a curious look as she skipped over to his side of the bed and couldn't contain her giddy excitement when she leaned down and kissed the side of his lips.

She had meant to kiss him on the cheek as thanks for letting her use his credit card but missed in her joy. The dresses she had her eyes on were finally put on sale but she wasn't getting paid until three days after the sale would be over. Katsuki had rolled his eyes and acted like it wasn't that much of a sale if they only reduced the price by a few yen. Ochako had insisted that whether it was ¥100 or ¥10,000 a sale was a sale. He made a comment on how she was a bargain shopper at heart as she proudly confirmed she'd always be one. One look into her longing eyes and Katsuki couldn't resist her, handing over his black credit card, the one where he kept his savings from all those years of being a pro. He told her to buy whatever she felt she needed for the trip and to ease her guilt trip, he told her to pay him back whenever she could.

Ochako wasn't one for asking for help financially but in that moment, she took it and promised him a hundred times as she clung onto him with tight hugs of gratitude that she'd pay him back in full. It's not like he really cared if she did or not because at the end, Katsuki would tell her it was all an advanced gift for whatever holiday/birthday slot she'll accept.

He was turning the corner, already able to hear the entire wedding party, knowing that more of their former classmates had just arrived earlier in the day – when he nearly bumped into the one woman that can jump-start his heart.

"Ochako…" he whispers.

"Katsuki…" she whispers back.

Ochako was nothing short of radiant. Stunning. Gorgeous. Absolutely breath-taking.

She was wearing a vintage tea length dusty pink lace dress accented with the same crystal diamond flowers as his cufflinks; the back of her dress has a low back with a ribbon corset. Her black pumps have black ribbons laced around her ankles for a ballerina look. Her hair was braided into a formal bun with her two long side bangs slightly curled and wavy. Her makeup was subtle but dreamy. She wasn't wearing any jewelry but it's not like she needed it.

"You look…" they both said in unison as they stopped when they realize this.

He wanted to tell her that she's perfect in every way. Not caring in that moment if she loved him back or not, she was just incredible and needed to know that.

She wanted to compliment his look, silently happy that their outfits complimented each other well. It would be a distraction from what she was desperately wanting to ask him, which is to have a moment to talk in private.

"What are you two doing just standing there?! Dinner's about to start!" Mina was the first one to snap them out of their trance. One of longing and awkwardness. She cut in the middle of the pair and grabbed both their hands to drag them into the closed restaurant that was reserved for the wedding party.

In that moment, Katsuki was grateful to have Mina as a friend. She just _always_ knew how to shift the mood with ease.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Bonsoir! It is I, your fabulous wedding planner!" Yuga Aoyama introduces himself as he kicks off the rehearsal dinner. "Oui~ It's so nice to see you all again after Denki and Kyouka's wedding. Mon chéires, who's next after Izuku and Shouto, I wonder?" he jokes as he points his champagne glass around the full table directly aiming his question towards the females.

Yuga had attended all of his former classmate's weddings. First with Momo, and then with Kyouka, and then Tsuyu's and now Izuku's. After high school, he had moved from Japan to France to take over his family's several businesses. First, he had been a pro for a couple of years chasing after his own dreams until he grew satisfied enough with his accomplishments and then his passions led him into his family's jewelry, pastry chef, and wedding planning occupations.

He began by thanking all the wedding guests in attendance for making their way all the way from Japan. And then he thanked the engaged couple themselves, even sharing the story of how he even became their wedding planner – it was in thanks to Izuku for catching a jewel thief at the jewelry store (owned by his aunt) Yuga was working at, at the time. Lastly, Yuga gave a heartfelt comment on his feelings towards Izuku getting married seeing as the two have been good friends since their first year at the hero academy.

Izuku tried to contain his emotions as he plucked a few tissues from a box at his side and thanked Yuga for his kind words.

It was then the best man's turn to say a few words if he so desired to.

Originally, Katsuki had planned on not giving a speech. He was no good with words and didn't want every other word in his vocabulary to be a variation of 'fuck.' But in his somber state of mind, he lacked the energy to refuse making a speech and even more, the need to cuss.

Katsuki got up from his seat, he had been sitting next to Eijirou as Mina had switched their sitting arrangements. Now Mina was sitting with Ochako directly across the two males.

"I'm not very good at sentimental _crap,_ but I'll just say that… I've known this nerd since we were practically in diapers" Katsuki starts off as he lifts his flute of champagne and looks at Izuku. "I haven't always been a role model and much less an actual friend to Izuku but he's never given up on me and still hoped we'd make amends. We have, so long ago and I can honestly say that we're both better off as friends than rivals" he pauses to take a drink, "so, before I get off track, I just want to congratulate him and Shouto – you're a pain in the _butt_ but Izuku seems to like you so hey, there's that" he joked as he shrugged, earning a few light laughs in return, "when you love someone, you fall in love with their soul, their imperfections, and their quirks – both their gifted abilities and what's makes them, them" he quietly says this part as his eyes lock onto Ochako's, "there's nothing you wouldn't do for that person, through thick and thin, you're both a team in life and it's something special that only a few have the honor of experiencing" the last bit of his speech personally stabs him as he takes his eyes away from Ochako to refocus on his friends, "to Izuku and Shouto!" he finishes as he raises his glass.

The entire table chanted and toasted to his speech.

After Katsuki, anyone else was welcomed to say something about the couple if they pleased. A few such as Tenya, Ochako, Melissa, Tsuyu, Momo, and Shouto's sister Fuyumi partook in saying a few words.

By the end of it, Izuku was a blubbering mess at Shouto's side.

The festivities winded down once their dinner was served in front of them. Smaller groups formed around the small circular tables that were huddled together to form one long row.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako was fixated on Katsuki all night long. There was just no way that she could ignore him tonight after his speech. A part of her _felt_ like he had directed the last half of it to her. It might've been wishful thinking on her part but there was no harm in trying.

"YOU'RE WHAT?!" she hears Mina's booming voice which causes her to snap out of her own thoughts.

"WHAT THE SHIT, PIKACHU!" it's hearing Katsuki cuss for the first time in what felt like forever that completely had her attention now on Denki and Kyouka who seemed to be crowded now.

"Shh! Shh! Keep it down will ya?!" Kyouka yanks Mina down and bashfully smiles at the rest of the table.

"Dude we've lost! Seriously, what the fuck!" Eijirou grumbles as he takes out his wallet from his lilac pant pocket and takes out all his yen notes to count of how many to evenly hand over to Hanta and his own girlfriend.

Among Katsuki's group of friends, he and Eijirou had betted on the fact that Denki would be the last to announce a pregnancy. Meanwhile Hanta and Mina were the only two smart enough to bet double that Denki would be the first to.

Mina knew that she and Eijirou would most likely be the last. Katsuki was a fifty-fifty debate, and Hanta was surprisingly their wild card – not knowing if he'd be the second or the one to beat Mina and Eijirou at being the very last to.

"Couldn't keep it in ya damn pants, now could you?!" Katsuki growled, momentarily forgetting his own brooding to focus on hounding his friend for information. "That's why you were fuckin' bouncing off the walls back at the izakaya!"

"We weren't sure, okay?!" Denki tries defending himself, "Kyouka and I didn't wanna say anything until after the first trimester"

"You still haven't paid up, Katsuki" Hanta chimes in with a devious smirk.

"Oh shut it, Tape Face!" the blond growls, refusing to pay up until they're back in Japan.

"First Tsu and now Kyouka, huh" Mina talks to herself as she mentally jots things down and then she sits back down next to Ochako and turns to her, "promise me that you won't get knocked up next, I don't wanna be left all alone!" she tells Ochako who chokes on her champagne.

"I technically don't have a boyfriend so it's safe to say that I won't be having a baby anytime soon" Ochako assures her while wiping her mouth with a napkin. She's long since accepted that she'll never be a bride, much less a mother, and with her current predicament with Katsuki – love was just exhausting.

It's an hour later that another commotion shakes their side of the table.

"YOU WHAT?!" Mina screeches as she tightly hugs Momo and then gives her husband Yosetsu a kiss on the cheek.

"Ah, shit" Katsuki rolls his eyes as he took a swig of his beer, having grown tired of champagne, "here we go again" he whispers to himself at the sight of Izuku crying so hard that Shouto (who had shed his own tears) had to take him out of the restaurant for a moment to calm down.

"Wow… that's really sweet of Momo to do that for them" Eijirou comments as they all had received the news that Momo had gifted the engaged couple to be their surrogate in the future if they ever chose to have children.

Yosetsu had been completely fine with the idea and Momo was so excited and honored to do this for her friends.

"What's up with everyone and their damn baby fever all of a sudden?" Katsuki mumbles to himself, his eyes briefly catching Ochako's discomfort at all the baby talk.

If they had been even more careless and absolutely reckless than they've already been in their heated moments – He knows for damn sure that they would've been dealing with baby drama on top of the tension they already have between them.

A baby with Ochako…

No.

He shakes his head, not allowing himself to think about that.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Oh, Honey, you've been riding the elevator for a good while now," Mina frowns at the sight of Ochako in front of her. At some point into the rehearsal dinner, she just didn't want to be surrounded by everyone gushing about having babies and predicting who would get hitched next. It was too much for her to handle.

Instead of hearing the gossip, she silently grabbed two unopened bottles of champagne and made her way towards the elevators. She was originally going to go up to Mina and Eijirou's room seeing as they had given her the second key card but then she just didn't. She slumped her back against the elevator's mirrored wall and sat down on the carpeted floor where she opened one bottle and began drinking as her overstimulated mind just broke again. Once the elevator dinged for her floor, she crawled over to the number panel and pressed each and every floor as she rode the elevator for what felt like a good hour before Mina finally manage to catch the elevator doors and found her.

She was so, so, so incredibly happy for her friends because Ochako isn't the type of person to be jealous or envious of other's blessings in life. She was just feeling bitter over her crappy luck skipping her yet again. But the worst part to her was seeing Katsuki revert back to his usual self. It just proved that he could move on as heartbroken as he is but she just can't. She can't pretend to be fine and dandy when he doesn't know the truth. And it was all her fault for creating the rift between them.

By now, her neat bun turned messy, her mascara was running down her pink cheeks, and her lipstick was smeared all over the mouth of the champagne bottle.

"He'll b-b-be –hicc– ok…ay… –hicc–" Ochako hiccups struggling to form a complete sentence, "but… I… –hicc– I… w-won't –hicc–" her diaphragm shakes with every hiccup as she shakes her head and blinks back the fresh tears.

Mina wanted to offer to take her back to the room and have her sleep it off but instead she tells her to stay right there and to not press any of the floors to go up. Ochako said nothing as she remained seated on the floor.

At first the determined pink tinted woman was going to avoid Katsuki and chew him out later. She was originally going to find Eijirou to help her deal with Ochako but one glance over to the blond who seemed to be in a better mood compared to in the morning had her hands bubbling with acid.

"Katsuki Bakugou, you get your ass over here!" she yelled in a close distance to him.

Katsuki was confused by her tone of voice as he shot her a look. Eijirou too wanted to know what was going on but Mina shook her head silently signaling that she's got this under control.

"Ooh, you're in trouble~" Denki and Hanta teased, knowing and not wanting any part of Mina's wrath.

"Shut it!" Katsuki warned as he left Eijirou's side and calmly made his way towards Mina.

Before he could ask her what she wanted, Mina was pulling Katsuki by his wrist to follow her outside the restaurant. Again, making her way towards Ochako who hadn't moved to close the elevators doors, instead she pressed for them to remain opened and sucked on the first bottle to get the last bit of alcohol out of it.

"Mina, where the fuck are you taking me?!" Katsuki demanded to know when they were across the main lobby and headed towards the elevators.

"I had this really thought-out plan and hell it might've been stupid but screw it! I'm tired of this shit, Katsuki! You're gonna talk to Ochako and clear all this! She's hurting! You're hurting! Everything's a mess!" she tugs him along as she feels him halt.

"Why would she be hurting? She's the one who rejected me" Katsuki had snapped out of the funk he was in. He was going to accept things as they were and live his life. He was going to devote all his time to working and learn to be happy with just that.

Mina shook her head as she put a bit more force into her strides and made him resume walking again. "You just don't get it. Talk to her!" she orders once they arrived to the elevators.

It was then that Katsuki had stopped an empty champagne bottle from rolling away. Picking it up, he silently handed it to Mina as he studied Ochako. She was a mess. Nothing like he's ever seen before.

She started on the second bottle and took a long chug with her eyes closed, having only heard Mina's voice. When she opened her glassy eyes, her lips began quivering at the sight of him.

"Mina, I thought we were friends?" Ochako's voice cracks as she shakes her head, "Why did you bring him here? I'm… I'm…" she wanted to say that she looks terrible, that she's had too much to drink, that her entire body felt like she was rocking on a boat – nausea and not in the way she's used to due to her quirk.

"Sweetie, it's time. You two need to talk this out" Mina gently pushed, unsure of how much coherent talking there would actually be on Ochako's end. She originally planned several things Ochako could do in order to get Katsuki's attention but the blond seemed to have gone back to his old self while Ochako suffered the brunt of it all.

"I'll leave you two alone" Mina waits for Katsuki to get inside the elevator before pressing the button to close the doors and leaves them be.

Katsuki deeply sighs and plops himself in front of her. "Why did you drink so much, Angel?" he quietly asks, physically stopping himself from wiping her black-streaked tears off her puffy cheeks.

"Katsuki, please _don't_ " she shudders, "please _don't_ " she begs, unable to hear him call her by that nickname.

The elevator took them up to his floor in no time but neither of them were going to get off just yet. He twisted his torso to press the button to close the doors again and turned again to look at her. She long since abandoned her half-full bottle of champagne and instead ruffled up the hem of her dress to use the backside to wipe her face clean.

"Ochako, why did you drink so much?" he tried again, gently prying without any judgement laced in his tone.

"I just… needed a moment to escape" she honestly tells him, "you were… you were… convinced I didn't love you!" she gasps when the emotions and words come rushing out of her in a painful cry. She wanted to tell him that hearing about her friends' happy relationships, of them discussing weddings and future kids, and just talking about fairytale lives had overwhelmed her when her own life was a mess.

She and Katsuki weren't anything. Afraid of calling it just friends because they weren't just friends. They had been fuck buddies that secretly held real feelings for one another. Just as life was giving her exactly what she wanted, she shut down unable to process anything and ran away. In the end, she had hurt her precious friend and the man she loves.

"I'm the worst" she squeaks out once she's calmed down enough, "I… I see that now" she's come to a pessimistic resolve, "I promise, no more crying after this" she sobers up a bit and smudges her runny mascara with the back of her hand. "You can't love me, Katsuki"

"Why not?" he speaks up, having heard and seen her turmoil.

"I want you to be happy, you'll just be miserable waiting for me to stop being afraid" her heart wanted so much but her brain was telling her not to get greedy. It's exactly what she did in the first place when she couldn't get rid of Shindou on her own. And then the few times their hormones got the best of them, of her, as things were no longer going by the rules Katsuki first instilled.

She was starving.

Hungry for love. Hungry for happiness. Hungry for someone that treats her right.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Katsuki felt like a dumbass.

So consumed by his own pain that not once did he even care to think about her feelings.

His mind, body, and soul were entirely clouded by his own wallowing that he didn't question whether or not she even loved him. Now, he didn't need to hear her say it. She was saying it loud and clear for him. It was her turn to push him away but unlike him, who was willing to look past everything and still have her in his life – she didn't want that. She would rather completely push him away, heartbroken and all just so he could be happy and forget about their past. She wanted to be selfless with him as she took in all the force of the impact. She was willing to be the odd one out if it meant that everyone else had a better ending than her.

Like hell he'd accept that shitty ending for her!

Katsuki got on his knees and crawled closer to her. One knee pressed into the fabric of her splayed out dress as he trapped one of her leg between both of his. She flinched when he gently cupped her warm cheeks between his palms.

"What if I like being miserable?" he questions as he tilts her head up, "What if you are what makes me happy?" he feels the sides of his palms get wet as they catch her new hot tears, "What if I fuckin' love you, 'Cheeks?" he whispers leaning down to ghost his lips over hers.

The single faintest brush of their lips making contact causes her to inwardly shudder.

"Katsuki…" Ochako knows that he knows now. She didn't need to explain herself because her raw emotions had been enough to tell him everything.

"No more running, Sweet Cheeks" he tells her as he kisses her forehead.

"No more running" she confirms as she blinks back the last of her tears. No matter how scared she is or unsure of the future, she knows that the one thing that will never change is how much she loves him and how much he means to her.

"I love you too, Katsuki"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

There's nothing like losing a Denki bet to get Katsuki to start cussing again! Lmao.

Honestly, this whole chapter wasn't nearly as dramatic or angsty as I had originally planned and I like it better this way! I didn't really have much plans to drag out stuff anyway.

I kinda feel like the ending is drawing near… maybe? And I'm still debating if there should be a Kacchako baby. Hmm… decisions, decisions.

Next Time: The Wedding Pt. III

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	19. The Wedding Pt III

AN: It still amazes me just how many reviews this story has. Thank you so much for taking the time to review! They always bring a smile to my face, reading your reactions. Your feedback seriously does help to motivate me to try and update faster because ahhh! I really love this story, it's been a fun ride.

I'm supposed to be getting started on a bunch of Kacchako one-shots (they'll be part of the Kissu Kissu Chuu! collection) buuut, my brain was nagging me with a particular scene for this fic so! I can't take the nagging anymore and decided to surprise y'all!

I'm probably like a broken record in my AN's with this but honestly, Alina Baraz's music is my muse when it comes to writing the more risqué scenes and one of her song's got stuck in my head.

Note: please take note that I've upped the rating for this chapter! It is now M. I decided that I wanted to add a bit more detail with that particular scene that was nagging me but knew it wasn't gonna stay in the bounds of being T+ so if some of you don't wanna read that mild citrus scene (yes I'm old fashion and still use the citrus scale haha) then don't read past the elevator scene towards the end. This is my first time changing the rating of a story to M so I hope it's good? Lol.

Happy reading~ :D

The Wedding Pt. III

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"So, you two cleared things up?"

"Yup"

"But you two aren't together yet?"

"Yup"

"Ochako…"

"Mina…"

"This is what I get for coming to the rescue…" Mina groans as she face-plants onto the cool mattress of the hotel bed wrapped around in a Pinky designed towel. She and Ochako were currently getting ready for today's wedding ceremony taking place in the late afternoon. Being the first to shower, she was sulking while soaking the comforter beneath her.

It's been three days since Mina helped Ochako and Katsuki sort things. Not having seen the not-couple in days and wanting to get an update on where things stood between the two. The pink-tinted woman lifts her head which was wrapped with a towel and looks up at her best friend.

"Have you two at least fucked once? Please, _please_ , tell me you have" she begs near tears, yearning for at least one juicy bit of gossip to go by.

Ochako remains neutral until Mina notices a slight crease on her forehead and the slight jut of her lips telling her all she needed to know.

"I thought you loved me!" Mina playfully cries as she drops her head once more on the bed.

"That night of the rehearsal dinner when you brought Katsuki to me, all we did was talk for a bit until I fell asleep... y'know, with me being buzzed and all. Then in the morning we decided to not put a label on things. Just to enjoy this trip and the wedding and then see where things go. We're both not interested in anyone else, I can assure you on that" Ochako explains, trying to ease Mina's dampening mood. "We love each other and have been sight-seeing these past couple of days. Besides, there hasn't been any time for _that_ " she slightly blushes, silently thinking about how, when they do – their intimacy will have a different meaning.

They weren't just friends. Technically, they never have. But this time, this time with love in the equation, things are different between the two.

"Ugh, fine" Mina settles, "at least you two aren't waltzing around each other in a maddening dance that's driving _me_ crazy"

Ochako takes her Ground Zero designed towel from her belongings she brought with her to Mina's room in order to get ready. Placing the towel on the bend of her arm, she leans down and tucks away the loose strands of Mina's unruly pink curls back into the towel on her head and gently places a kiss on her cheek before heading off to take a shower. "I love you too!" she giggles and walks off.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Do you think I'd make a good dad? Like can you see me in that role?"

"Dude, you nearly made me cut myself! Where's this coming from?"

Katsuki leans against the bathroom counter, fully dressed and waiting on Eijirou to finish shaving.

"I just…" the blond pauses to collect his thoughts, "been thinking with fuckin' Pikachu and other classmates announcing that they're expecting… it's making me feel the damn baby fever"

"You do know that's something Ochako wants right? She's amazing with kids and would make one kick ass mom"

"Yeah but am I the right person to give her that? We fuckin' love each other but…"

"You're doubting yourself"

"Yeah" Katsuki grimaces, hating that he's feeling indecisive for once. Always having been so sure of everything he did in life until Ochako came back and wormed her way into his personal bubble with her spunk and charisma. She turned his life upside down, reminding him of long forgotten goals he's set for himself. When he was a teenager, all he wanted was to be the very best. Then when he got older, he found a love and passion for first-response work. But in the back of his mind, somewhere along the way, he must have forgotten that once upon a time, he dreamed of starting a family by the time he turns twenty-eight and he's currently twenty-six.

"I haven't even properly taken her out on a fuckin' date and now I'm thinking about kids and marriage…" he lowly groans, hating the way his pulse was accelerating with excitement at the mere thought of having it all with _his_ special girl.

"Ow!" Eijirou winces at the blade of his razor slightly nicking him, being taken by surprise at his best friend. Kids, he could understand but also marriage?

"I mean, you two did kinda brush past the whole getting reacquainted and becoming real friends and ran straight for the bedroom. Not like I'm one to judge, especially with the way Mina and I had a _very_ open relationship for years" the red-head tells him as he finishes his shave and cleans the sink, "I love you both and I know without a doubt that you'll be a great dad _and_ husband but let things fall into place. Enjoy this alone time ya got with Ochako for now and then settle down and discuss the serious stuff later"

"I hate it when you make sense" Katsuki rolls his eyes letting out a deep breath he didn't realize he was holding on.

Eijirou laughs and winks at him as he gets a comb to begin spiking his droopy hair, "and that's why you love me!"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"It's not like you've ever been a part of my life to begin with so I understand. Don't come, don't call me, just don't bother anymore because I'm not listening" Izuku briskly ends his call. His scarred hand tightly gripping onto his phone as his entire body shook with a strong urge to cry.

But he wasn't going to cry. Not for this. Not to give _him_ the satisfaction.

"It's okay, Bun-Bun" Ochako softly whispers, coming from behind the slightly taller male to embrace him. "This is your wedding day with all the people who love you and support you the most in attendance" she gently tells him as she feels his shaking calming down.

"He said I was making the biggest mistake of my life… I know… I know…" he chokes on a sob, "he's wrong and that I love Shouto with my entire being but it still hurts knowing my dad disapproves" he whispers, gritting his teeth with quivering lips. He seriously was fighting back the urge to cry having just gotten off the phone with his biological father.

They've never been close, with his dad always being away overseas on business meetings. Growing up, it was as if Izuku had been raised by a single parent until Toshinori came into his life. Not only as the great All Might himself, the hero mentor he was ever grateful to have but also as just a simple loving man who loved not only him but his lonely mother as well.

Toshinori had filled in the role of his dad growing up and he'd be forever grateful to the man in so, so many ways.

Ochako let go to face him, gently cupping his freckled cheeks to wipe away at the tears he didn't notice were streaming down from saddened emerald eyes. "Your dad is a fool. His opinion doesn't matter when you have the approval of your _real_ parents waiting out there, sitting at the pews, so eager to welcome Shouto into your family"

"You're right," Izuku shudders, "you're right" he repeats himself as he gasps, finally releasing his pent-up emotions.

"Oi, you ready to get fu– _freakin'_ hitched?" Katsuki corrects himself seeing as their in a religious location as he asks while opening the front doors to the entrance of the church. Everyone in attendance already seated and patiently waiting but beginning to get anxious.

Even Shouto, who was standing in the front with the pastor. Katsuki made it his job to go see what was going on as discreetly as he possibly could, squeezing Shouto's shoulder once to assure him he'd go see what was taking them so long.

The blond gulped, biting his inner cheek trying not to focus on Ochako as he found her fixing up Izuku's appearance before they could get started on the ceremony.

She told the green-haired male something encouraging as he saw him chuckle and thanked her as he finally opened the front doors to leave. A second later, the music started playing signaling that they were right back on schedule.

"Fu– _Freak!_ You're making me a sinner in church, 'Cheeks" Katsuki comments once alone with the brunette.

"May I offer you some holy water then?" she cheekily offers with an amused grin on her red-tinted lips as she waves her hand towards the gold bowl filled with holy water on a stand by her.

Unlike her cute rehearsal dinner outfit that was flirty and fun, Ochako went a bit sultry and mature for the wedding. Not meaning to play on her sex appeal or rile Katsuki up. That wasn't her intention but it was a bonus for sure.

She was wearing a wine-red backless halter dress (currently covered up by a short-sleeved black lace shrug) with black pumps with a gold metal heel decorated with sprouting laurel leaves. On her left wrist, a few thin golden bangles, her fingernails painted in a complimenting red manicure. On her ears – gold and ruby small hoop earrings, her makeup smoky but subtle, and her hair was tied up again in a braided bun with wavy long-side bangs and a gold laurel leaf hair clip on the side.

Katsuki matched her outfit, in his own long-sleeved wine-red dress shirt, black tie, slacks, and shoes. On his ears, he had simple gold and ruby studs. And his hair was pushed back again, styled in a faux-hawk as he had done so for the rehearsal dinner days ago.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you? You lil' vixen" he lightly accuses, trying to keep part of his focus on the music to determine how far along on the narrow walkway Izuku was nearing the alter.

Ochako gets closer to him as he stood beside the wall of the church's front doors leading into the ceremony currently taking place. Tapping his chiseled chest with one manicured red finger, she tells him, "the dress was on sale"

She tiptoes to reach his ear, "I don't know what you're talking about," she whispers against his ear, feeling him shudder against her, "nor what you're accusing me of, Mr. Bakugou" that does it for him as he reaches for her, closing the gap between them and tightly grips her hips, trying to stop himself from just scooping her up and ditching the wedding altogether. They could always pretend that they were _totally_ there and meet everyone up later for the reception party.

Ochako knows she shouldn't, especially not in a holy place such as a church of all places. But she can't help it when she kisses the shell of his ear and briefly tugs on the stud in his right ear. She doesn't play with it for very long as she plants feather-light kisses trailing down the side of his jaw until she feels his adam's apple bob as he gulps when she kisses him there.

She pulls away, planting her feet firmly back on the ground with her heels making a small 'click' noise. Before she's entirely done with him, she curls her hand around his black tie to yank him down to her height. "Later" she promises with a single word before sealing it with a lingering kiss to his tempting lips.

Later meaning, they'd finally have alone time.

Later meaning, they won't end the night in pillow talk.

Later meaning, they'll finally make things official.

"Later" he confirms as he kisses her one final time as he fixes his tie. Before they join the festivities, she silently offers him, her small compact mirror from her gold clutch purse. He checks himself for any lipstick smeared on him before opening the front door for them to go back in and watch their friends get married.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Shouto watches as Izuku makes his way down the carpeted walkway with its serene stream of water flowing at the sidelines of each pew row (which had ribbons and flowers on each wooden panel). He almost reaches the front when Shouto sees Katsuki reenter with Ochako in tow. Rather than find their reserved seats at the front pews, the couple decided to stay in the back and sit on Izuku's family side as to not further disturb the ceremony.

The ceremony itself wasn't traditional in its ways where they'd usually have the best man, groomsmen, maid of honor, and bridesmaid all crowded by the wedding couple. Instead, the main wedding party sat in the front for the entire thing while holding bouquets of mixed roses.

Izuku's side of the pews was decorated in green roses while Shouto's had a mix of white and red roses. The green-haired male wore a fully white suit with a bright red tie while the dual-tone male wore a fully black suit with a bright green tie.

Each said their vows, promising each other a lifetime of love, laughter, and happiness. That no matter what life and their hero jobs threw their way, they'd always remain a unit in sickness and in health.

Izuku was a blubbering mess by the end as they did the ring exchange as Shouto lovingly wiped away his husband's tears and kissed him.

Everyone cheered as they stood up and clapped while the newly wedded couple kissed again and held hands as they made their way out. One by one, each row got out to go to the front court of the church. Outside, they had the chance to personally congratulate the couple on their marriage.

"Oh, my baby boy is married!" Inko gushed as Toshinori held her up.

"Mom!" Izuku's waterworks increased tenfold at the sight of his parents smiling and welcoming Shouto into their family.

A few minutes later, Shouto's mom Rei, older sister Fuyumi, and older brother Natsuo all hugged Izuku, welcoming him to their own family. By now, the dual-tone male wasn't in the least bit surprised that his own father didn't bother coming, prioritizing being the number one pro hero of Japan rather than attend his own son's wedding. That was until Shouto received a simple text message wishing him the best. It wasn't the grand celebratory reaction he was expecting from Enji but he was grateful for it.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"What's wrong, Babe?" Eijirou amusedly asks as he sees his girlfriend, walking towards him in her little black and leopard patterned spliced cocktail dress. He was wearing a gold long-sleeve dress shirt and black slacks to match her risqué outfit.

"I'm exhausted!" Mina whines as she drops herself onto her boyfriend's lap with one arm circled around his neck.

He affectionately kisses her cheek as he nuzzles his face in the crook of her neck taking in the scent of her cotton candy perfume.

"Do tell" he chuckles sending the vibrations against her skin, patiently waiting for her to further elaborate.

"Tsu and Kyouka are no fun since they can't drink and Izuku and Shouto are busy chatting with their families. Hanta and Denki are too busy being entertained by the fondue and champagne fountains and Katsuki and Ochako look like they're ready to devour each other. I'm surprised they haven't left the party earlier"

"So that leaves you all to myself, isn't that a good thing?"

Mina giggles at his tiny pecks on her neck as she pulls away and gets off his lap. "I love you, you know that but I was hoping for more…"

"Pizzazz?" Eijirou offers as Mina enthusiastically nods.

"Exactly! I was hoping for some drama but it's all been pretty tame" she lightly frowns with a slight annoyance at not having seen anything wild go down other than Katsuki and Ochako looking lost in their little world. She would not be surprised if they suddenly disappeared from the reception.

"Want me to grind against you on the dance floor and whisper naughty things into your ear?" Eijirou gets up from his chair to extend his hand out for her to take.

"Yes, _please_ " Mina happily takes his hand with a bounce in her steps as Eijirou leads her to the dance floor.

"Let's go make people uncomfortable!" he laughs in good spirits as he raises their held hand high and twirls her once before she falls into him in a fit of giggles and finds their spot on the dance floor.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The reception had been beautiful and left not a single dry eye in the room except for maybe Katsuki. Izuku and Shouto thanked everyone again for attending and for them to enjoy their meals. Later in the evening, they paused the music and asked for everyone to gather around.

Eijirou and Mina who were on the dance floor already, stopped their slow and sensual grind to listen. Katsuki and Ochako had been sitting by the bar area, more engaged in staring into each other's eyes than really drinking.

Izuku and Shouto cut the cake with the newlyweds playfully smearing chunks of cake and frosting onto their faces and parts of their hair. They then surprised the wedding guests with three big carts filled with stacks of plainly frosted extra cakes all mounted on top of each other that they offered everyone to dig into and encouraged a food fight. By this point, everyone had a slice of cake from the intricately decorated wedding cake and now had the option to either eat it or use it as ammunition along with the whole cakes on several carts scattered about the room.

At the mention of a cake fight, Eijirou, Denki, and Hanta were the firsts to reach for a whole cake, smashing it to smithereens as they yelled out for a food fight.

The first chunk just so happened to land on the side of Katsuki's perfectly combed and styled hair which caused a deadly silence to sweep over the entire ballroom.

"What the fuck!" Katsuki yelled as he grabbed the glob of moist cake from his spiky hair and mushed the spongey cake in his fingers. "OH, IT'S ON, YOU FUCKERS ARE GOING DOWN!" he roars a second later as he scoops up the remaining cake from his hair and his piece of cake on a plastic plate to throw it somewhere into the crowd.

"Oh, Katsuki~" Ochako calls out while dodging a whole slice of cake that hit Katsuki's chest, getting stuck there as he momentarily ceasefire after successfully smacking Denki square in the face with cake and looks at her.

Ochako still had her own slice of cake, trying to protect it from getting destroyed by the raging war currently going on. She leaned over to swipe her index finger along Katsuki's frosting covered jaw and licks away the white frosting from her sticky finger.

"Mmm, vanilla" she contently hums as she watches his crimson eyes focus on the way she swiped more frosting off his face and slowly sucked on her finger in a sensual way, "delicious" she lowly whispers as her eyes get transfixed on the way he licks his lips.

"Screw this, we're leaving!" Katsuki abruptly gets up from the bar stool. It had been the perfect location to be at for the cake wars. Not only did a cake cart roll into their direction but they also had both sides of the counter to shield them from the flying cake and raining splatter of white frosting. "NOW!" Katsuki energetically tells her as he waits for her to wrap her slice of cake with napkins and leads her out of the ballroom as she eagerly follows.

Ochako had been, for the most part, unscathed at the beginning of the cake battle but got hit several times as they maneuvered their way out of there (even needing to scoop out a few messy chunks from the crevice of her chest). Katsuki took the most damage as he tried to block the oncoming chunks of cake with his arms to avoid getting his face covered again.

Once they were finally out, they quickly took an empty elevator as Katsuki wasted no time getting Ochako in and kissing her hard in a desperate, needy kiss against the mirrored wall, smearing it in cake frosting as the elevator doors closed and dinged.

"You taste so sweet" Ochako teasingly giggles, licking her frosting smudged lips, catching her breath with one hand on her heaving chest as the elevator takes them up to their floor.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Katsuki led her straight to their hotel room where he lightly shoved her against the back of the door once it was closed and took claim of her lips. One sticky hand held one of hers above her head, smearing the wooden door in frosting, as he weaved his fingers, interlocking them with hers.

Ochako moaned into his mouth as she felt his free hand tickle her sides as his wandering hand traveled to the giant ribbon knot in the back of her neck to tug free the top of her dress.

"Fuck. I want you so fuckin' bad, Angel" he whispered, nose skimming her fevered skin as his lips traveled to the crook of her neck.

"Ye… Yes…" she breathlessly replies, tilting her head further to give him more of her. Her back arching off the wall as she felt his free hand trying to shimmy off her dress.

Katsuki stopped sucking and kissing her neck, leaving visible marks, as he pulled away to drink in her features. Her closed smoky eyes, tightly scrunched up as she desperately tries not to fall apart then and there but her red tinted lips told him another story as they parted and looked inviting.

"You're gorgeous" he huskily whispered as he gripped her hips, diving in for another searing kiss.

She failed to notice when he had fully taken off her dress as it pooled around her in a heap of red cake covered fabric leaving her in her nude strapless wing-tip bra and red lace panties. He let go of her held hand above her head and allowed her to wrap her arms around his neck as her manicured nails gently scratched against the blond baby hairs on the back of his neck.

Ochako securely wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her to the bed as their lips never once parted for very long. He was careful when laying her down on the grand plush bed. Kissing her until her head hit the pillows. His arms and knees supporting his weight above her.

Katsuki's experienced hands hastily working on uncovering her breasts as he was greeted with the sight of her pert nipples. "Fuck…" he lowly groans to himself, always enjoying the sight of her like this. She was intoxicating. Leaning down, he latched onto one nipple, lightly sucking, nibbling, and kissing around her areola, as his other hand massaged and fondled her breast receiving a chorus of moans in exchange.

He took his time on every inch of her body, whispering sweet nothings into her ear about how much he loves her and the way she's making him feel. Slowly, Ochako's half-lidded eyes started to wander his body, taking it all in, in its cake covered glory.

Katsuki loosened up his tie and removed it along with his shirt, causing Ochako to bite her bottom lip at the sight. She snapped out of taking mental notes on his body when she heard a jingle of a belt being undone and thrown somewhere on the bedroom's floor. She heard it land somewhere with a small 'clank' as her eyes traveled further down south.

In the dim lit room that felt like it only had the aid of the Eiffel Tower as their main source of light as it twinkled and shone brightly in the background of the city – she could faintly see his pants desperately clinging onto his hips as he teased her by not fully going nude quite yet but fully being able to see his erection constricted against his boxers.

He still wanted to take his time with her as he slowly and meticulously removed her panties, dragging the lacy material off her hip bones and down her thick thighs, down to her ankles. Painstakingly taking his time before dipping a digit into her soaking wet folds before inserting another.

Torturously, he pulled his sinful fingers away as he earned a small whine in protest from her. He moves up again with a soft chuckle rumbling against his throat as his lips ghosted over every faint scar on her battle torn petite body.

It was no secret that as aspiring heroes, especially ones that were targeted the most by villains from all walks of life, that the once teenagers of U.A. had their fair share of battle wounds. Some wounds just proved to be even too much for Recovery Girl's quirk to instantly cure but they were reminders of both their time as mere students at the prestigious academy and of their years working as pro heroes.

Katsuki lightly pressed his nose against each imperfection, kissing her fading scars on her sides and stomach feeling the small ridges of muscles there but he was more focused on the goosebumps he created on her skin as she breathlessly begged for him.

Ochako choked on a moan as she began to arch her back higher when she felt him tightly grip her hips to anchor her back down when he moves lower again. Luckily, she hadn't activated her quirk. His head gets lost in-between her inner thighs, hot tongue dangerously close to where she wants him most but unmoving.

"K… K… Katsuki…!" a breathy moan escaped her lips as she pleads for him, already at her breaking point.

Eventually he obliges, consuming her from the inside out as he embraces the slight sting of her greedy hands tugging and pulling on his hair as he has his wicked way with her. Along the way, he discards his remaining clothes as he fills her completely having her legs wrapped around him in a vice grip as they divulge in their pleasures and desires together.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Are we ever going to get out of bed today?" Ochako asks, lifting the bedsheet to look down at Katsuki lazily placing kisses down her stomach.

His head popped out of the covers with a thoughtful hum rumbling in his throat. "Do we have to, Pink Cheeks? Not like we're in a fuckin' rush to go anyw–" Katsuki pauses as a smirk curls on his lips, "or we could just fuck again. What is it that they say, third time's the charm or some shit like that?" he suggests with a playful glint in his ruby eyes.

Ochako deeply blushes, thinking that no matter how many times they've done it in the past and even just last night and this morning – she'll never get used to the thought.

Katsuki is hers just as she's his.

Mind, body, and soul.

She whole-heartedly giggles as she tries and fails to shake him off when he goes underneath the covers again and begins blowing raspberries on her stomach. Ochako is a very ticklish person.

Playfully shaking her head, she looks up to the ceiling and tells him with a cute pout, "but I want macarons, pots de crème, crêpes and _cake_ "

Katsuki gets out of the covers to hover over her as she looks down at him with owlish brown eyes. He kisses the tip of her nose and gives her a look. "Oi, who gave you the right to be so fuckin' cute?"

"My parents" she cheekily replies while sticking her tongue out at him as he rolls his eyes with an amused scoff. Katsuki pecks her lips once before fully getting out of bed on the opposite side of her.

"Fine but shower first" he tells her as he goes over to her side and scoops her up in a bridal carry as she clings onto the bedsheet to cover herself up as he takes them into the luxurious bathroom to shower together.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Uhuhuhu, if you read the whole chapter then I hope you sinners are pleased! Like I said, it was mild, not a full on lemon. I honestly don't know if I'll be writing in M territory again in the future but Kacchako is my current main OTP fuel sooo... We shall see!

I'm really surprised this chapter is short but I hope that the events that happened in said chapter make up for its length! This story really is drawing to its end really close here so I'm not sure how many more chapters I'll write or if the next will be the last so until then...

Next Time: Looking Towards The Future

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


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